A conservation activist, who has been working silently for saving the grasslands, flora and fauna in Western Assam’s Manas National Park has been nominated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for this year’s Heritage Heroes award.
Dr. Bibhuti lahkar, who has been nominated by the IUCN for this year’s Heritage Heroes award, is also the only Asian to get the nomination this year besides being the first one from Assam to get the nomination for the prestigious award.
The IUCN gives the Heritage Heroes award for recognising the outstanding efforts of individuals, who makes a difference in the conservation of World Heritage sites in challenging situations. The objective of Heritage Heroes award is to inspire people to value the importance of natural World Heritage sites and recognise the need to collectively invest in their conservation.
The recipient of the award will be selected through online voting through the website www.iucn.org, which began on August 25 and will continue till August 31, 2016.
lahkar, a Ph.D student then started working in the Manas National Park about 20 years back focusing mainly on management of grasslands of Manas with particular reference to the Critically Endangered Pygmy Hog, which is found nowhere else in the world.
“I have seen the Manas National Park getting affected by the human habitation and the ill impacts of Bodo insurgency on the national park. I decided to work there along with the local communities and started teaching the locals on how to monitor the wildlife and conserve the forests,” said a happy Dr. lahkar, who has intensively studied the grasslands of Manas and is now recognised globally as an expert for the threatened flora and fauna of the Terai region along the southern foothills of the Himalayas.
The Manas National Park was declared as a natural World Heritage site in 1985 due to its exceptional biodiversity and ecosystems. However, the park became World Heritage Site in Danger in 1991 as the park lost its forest cover due to Bodo insurgency and lost significant number of its wildlife.
lahkar along with his team worked tirelessly for close to 20 years to change the park, which finally forced the authorities to remove the park from the list of World Heritage Site in danger in 2011.
“I started training young people with tourist guide skills and in wildlife monitoring. I have interacted continuously with the local communities, holding meetings and workshops and discussing with various stakeholders on how solutions can be found for both, threatened wildlife and the people of Manas. I also trained surrendered poachers and hunters on biodiversity, protection and monitoring of wildlife,” said lahkar while adding that these poachers turned conservationists and are now helping the Forest Department in patrolling and protection of Manas.
“I have motivated about 100 youths to learn the basics of wildlife monitoring and act as tour guides, who are operating till today and most of them are now engaged in ecotourism ventures and support their families,” said lahkar who has also played a critical role in the rehabilitation of surrendered poachers, enabling them to lead a dignified and socially meaningful life by getting involved in conservation activities.