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Panchan Lahkar Conserved Area Management Committee Members from Tawang Arunachal receiving the 2015 Nature Conservancy Award from Professor Dhrubajyoti Saikia, Vice Chancellor, Cotton State University
The local communities in and around forests are the real stakeholders and are best equipped to protect the forests and its wildlife and their involvement is extremely crucial. The villagers of the Kharman and Kyalegteng in Arunachal Pradesh are a testimony to this fact. In 2011, these villagers, inspired by the idea of Community Conserved Area approached the Tata Trusts and WWF – India for technical and financial support in demarcating 85 sq. km. of Unclassed State Forest land as the Pangchen Lakhar Community Conserved Area (PLACCA). The PLACCA comprises Panchayat members, village elders and youth who work for the conservation and management of their verdant forests, thereby securing the habitats of endangered red pandas, musk deer, serow, goral, Himalayan black bears, Siberian weasels, leopards and wild dogs. PLACCAMC has been encouraging the villagers to revive their dependency on agriculture and put into practice some of the pilot mitigation techniques to combat human-wildlife conflicts. For PLACCAMC’s foresight and unified efforts in conservation, the team was awarded The Balipara Foundation Nature Conservancy Award.
Panchan Lahkar Conserved Area Management Committee Members from Tawang Arunachal receiving the 2015 Nature Conservancy Award from Professor Dhrubajyoti Saikia, Vice Chancellor, Cotton State University
The local communities in and around forests are the real stakeholders and are best equipped to protect the forests and its wildlife and their involvement is extremely crucial. The villagers of the Kharman and Kyalegteng in Arunachal Pradesh are a testimony to this fact. In 2011, these villagers, inspired by the idea of Community Conserved Area approached the Tata Trusts and WWF – India for technical and financial support in demarcating 85 sq. km. of Unclassed State Forest land as the Pangchen Lakhar Community Conserved Area (PLACCA). The PLACCA comprises Panchayat members, village elders and youth who work for the conservation and management of their verdant forests, thereby securing the habitats of endangered red pandas, musk deer, serow, goral, Himalayan black bears, Siberian weasels, leopards and wild dogs. PLACCAMC has been encouraging the villagers to revive their dependency on agriculture and put into practice some of the pilot mitigation techniques to combat human-wildlife conflicts. For PLACCAMC’s foresight and unified efforts in conservation, the team was awarded The Balipara Foundation Nature Conservancy Award.