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India Gazette
6 days ago
- General
- India Gazette
Aaranyak undertakes massive plantation drive to mitigate human-elephant conflict in Assam
Guwahati (Assam) [India], May 25 (ANI): Aaranyak is undertaking a large-scale plantation drive in Assam to address human-elephant conflict by restoring degraded habitats and providing elephants with natural food sources. The goal is to replenish 100 hectares of degraded forest by planting one lakh saplings of native species, improving ecological connectivity for wildlife, particularly elephants, and mitigating human-elephant conflict (HEC). Aaranyak is supported by the SBI Foundation and is a part of the Dhansiri-Sikaridanga Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) is undertaking a massive plantation drive in the Bhairabkunda Reserve Forest along the Indo-Bhutan border in Assam's Udalguri district. The plantation drive, now in its third year, has seen the participation of forest officials, FXB India Suraksha, the Bhairabkunda Development Committee, and the Dhansiri-Sikaridanga Joint Forest Management Committee. On the first day of the third-year plantation drive, 510 saplings of 11 native species were planted, including Outenga, Bel, Kola Siris, Gamari, Bhatgila, Amla, Jamun, Bhomora, Xilikha, Bhelkor, Kum, Odal, and Tora. The objective of the plantation drive is to promote human-elephant coexistence by securing elephant habitats, facilitating elephant movement, and sustaining the watershed for the region. Habitat replenishment can have a lasting impact in favor of mitigating HEC, providing a long-term solution to reduce conflicts between humans and elephants. 'The Aaranyak team is striving for habitat improvement and restoring degraded areas under the project to secure elephant habitat, facilitate elephant movement for long-term mitigation of human-elephant confrontation, and sustain the watershed for the region,' said Dr Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar, a senior conservation scientist in Aaranyak. 'Raging HEC undermines efforts for conservation of elephants and their habitat, besides affecting the well-being of people. The complex issue of HEC mitigation requires a multi-pronged and multi-stakeholders approach as has been adopted by research-driven Aaranyak,' said Dr Alolika Sinha, a senior conservation biologist in Aaranyak. (ANI)
The Hindu
24-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Planting for elephants: Green step in degraded Assam forest on Bhutan border
GUWAHATI After a year, a mission to re-green a 100-hectare degraded Assam forest on the border with Bhutan to mitigate human-elephant conflicts has resumed. Members of Aaranyak, a biodiversity conservation group, and the Dhansiri-Sikaridanga Joint Forest Management Committee in north-central Assam's Udalguri district, planted 510 saplings of 11 native species. These saplings – and scores of others planted earlier – are envisaged to provide food and shelter for the elephants in the future. The mission focuses on replenishing 100 hectares of a degraded patch in the district's Bhairabkunda Reserve Forest, administered by the Dhansiri Forest Division. The drive started on May 14. 'The key native plant species being planted during the drive this year include outenga, bel, kola siris, gamari, bhatgila, amla, jamun, bhomora, xilikha, bhelkor, kum, odal, and tora, as they are called in local parlance. We aim to plant 1 lakh saplings during this summer,' Aaranyak's Rabiya Daimari said. Habitat replenishment can have a lasting impact in resolving human-elephant conflicts as it provides a long-term solution to promote coexistence between wild elephants and people. Aaranyak initiated this ambitious project two years ago with support from the SBI Foundation. 'The Aaranyak team is striving for habitat improvement and restoring degraded areas under the project to secure elephant habitat, facilitate elephant movement for long-term mitigation of human-elephant confrontation, and sustain the watershed for the region,' Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar, a senior conservation scientist at Aaranyak, said. The area targeted for replenishment is a mosaic of grasslands and woodlands, with different soil substrata ranging from sandy coarse to rocky and swampy areas. Illegal logging and encroachment of elephant corridors in the vicinity are some of the factors that affected the forest patch strategic for elephants. Aaranyak has been engaged in empowering local communities and securing habitats to promote human-elephant coexistence. As a wide-ranging species, the Asian elephant needs expansive resources for its survival and often comes into conflict with humans through crop and property damage, deaths and injuries, and retaliatory killing of the pachyderms. 'Raging human-elephant conflict undermines efforts for conservation of elephants and their habitat, besides affecting the well-being of people. The complex issue of mitigating such conflicts requires a multi-pronged and multi-stakeholder approach,' Alolika Sinha, a senior conservation biologist at Aaranyak, said.
