Subject: Aaraanyak Nature club Bhibab Talukdar from Guwahati requested me to post this letter to the Network. Bhibab's address including email is given at the end of the text. Thank you Pramod=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Guwahati, 6 January 1998 : Aaranyak Nature Club, a society for Environment= Protection in the North East India, has been actively involved in differen= t conservation programmes in Assam during the year 1997. The club which was= formed in the year 1989 remai ned active in the field of Environment and Biodiversity protection in the r= egion and at present emerged as one of the leading and well reckoned NGO in= the North eastern India. The club is working to save the remaining populat= ion of the endangered Great In dian One Horned Rhino Rhinoceros unicornis, Royal Bengal Tiger Panthera tig= ris, Elephant Elephus maximus, White-winged Wood Duck Cairina scutulata, Gr= eater Adjutant Stork Leptoptilos dubius, Spotbilled Pelican Pelecanus phili= ppensis, and some threatened s pecies of Reptiles and Amphibians. The salient work carried out by the club= during 1997 are summarised below. During 1997, Aaranyak Nature Club (ANC) organised a number of LEGAL ORIENTA= TION WORKSHOPS for the benefit of the forest officials. It has been realise= d that most of the forest officials are not fully aware of different sectio= ns of the existing laws that c ould be used against any offerender related to forest and wildlife offences= =2E As a result of that, the culprits very often are released from the judi= ciary or Police custody, as the forest officials could not frame the case p= roperly. Keeping this important=20 drawbacks in mind, ANC started the Legal Orietnation Camps and Mr. Gautom U= zir, Advocate, Gauhati High Court and Legal Advisor to the ANC conducted th= e camps on behalf of the club. Such Legal Orientation Workshops were held a= t Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary=20 (WLS), Orang Wildlife Sanctuary and at Nameri National Park. The Pabitora a= nd Orang WLS are famous for harbouring the endangered Great Indian Rhino. A= large number of Divisonal Forest Officers (DFO) and Range Officers along w= ith other forest stafffs atten ded the workshops during the year 1997. Some of the status of pending cases= were analysed as a practical class in the workshop to better understand th= e merits and demerits of the cases concerned and where the forest deptt. we= nt wrong in filing the case et c. The analytical workshop on the=20 Legal matter is the first of its kind in the whole of India and ANC's thoug= ht in that subject has been widely appreciated in the conservation circle. = In some of the workshops, Mr. Gautom Uzir were assisted by Mr. Bibhab Kumar= Talukdar, Secretary General o f ANC and also by Mr. Santanu Bhattacharjee, Advocate, Gauhati High Court a= nd Mr. M.R. Das, the Public Prosecutor. ANC also compiled a preliminary report on the "STATUS OF PENDING CASES ON W= ILDLIFE OFFENCES IN THE NATIONAL PARKS AND SANCTUARIES IN ASSAM". The club = has also strengthened its investigation unit to minimise the trade on wildl= ife mainly the rhino horns, ti ger skins and bones, Ivory, Musk of Musk Deer etc. during 1997 and establi= shed a Network with the concerened circles to bring the culprits involved i= nto the book. The club executives met different high officials of the conce= rened government department in different districts of Assam to strengthen the network and cooperation amo= ng the government departments. During 1997, ANC donated SOLAR PANELS to Ora= ng and Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary to charge the Walkie-talkie batteries to= enhance rhino protection meas ures. ANC also offered variuos other in-kind assistance to further expand a= nd strengthen the anti-poaching network in the state of Assam. In the field of Environmental Education, ANC organised a number of in-door = and outdoor programmes in different parts of Assam during 1997. Such Enviro= nmental Education (EE) Programme was organised in the Institutions of Golag= hat, Mangoldoi, Tezpur and Guw ahati city. EE programmes were also conducted in the fringe villages of Pr= otected Areas in Assam to aware the people regarding the need for Biodivers= ity conservation. ANC also supported the newly formed Green Society of Mang= oldoi and the All Darrang Dist rict Students Union (ADDSU) in conducting a month long environmental awaren= ess programmes in the Darrang district. ANC extended technical support to t= he Green Society and ADDSU to smoothly run the programmes in the remote vil= lages of the district. ANC app reciated the rolw played by the Green Society and ADDSU to aware the people= regarding the need of Wildlife and forests. ANC organised a number of Bird Watching Camps in the important bird habitat= of Assam including Deepor Beel, Samuguri Beel, Pabitora WLS, Orang WLS, Ka= ziranga National Park, Nameri National Park, Nambor Reserved Forest, and so= me parts of the Brahmaputra Ri ver tract. The club in collaboration with the Assam Forest School, jalukbar= i, Guwahati, also organised a three day Capsule Course on "MICRO-PLANNING I= N ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL PROJECTS THROUGH PARTICIPATORY RURAL APPRAISAL (= PRA) EXERCISE" at the Assam Fo rest School from 22-24 November 1997 where a large number of NGO leaders, a= nd other government officials attended and partcipated in the deliberations= =2E Mr. Partha Sarathi Das, Director, Assam Forest School conducted the cou= rse as course instructor. During the year, ANC also organised a field Training Camp at Nambor Reserved Fore= st in collaboration with the Centre for Environment Education (CEE). During= 1997, a senior member of ANC, Mr. Rathin Barman, attended a four weeks Int= ernational Training course on=20 Environmental Education at USA, while the Secretary General of the club Mr.= Bibhab Kumar Talukdar presented a paper on the "Role of Environmental Educ= ation in Protecting the Cultural Rights of Tribal People", at the 26th Annu= al Conference of the North Ame rican Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), held at the Universi= ty of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada from 15-19 August 1997. ANC is planning to launch some major initiatives in the current year (ie., = 1998) to extend logistic support to the Orang WLS to enhance the anti-poach= ing measures. The club is planning to extend some in-kind assistance to Ora= ng WLS in consultation with th e Forest Department of Assam in 1998. In kind assistance may also be offere= d to other National parks and sanctuaries of Assam if fund is available and= if the need arises. The club is also preparing a HAND BOOK on Laws related= to the Wildlife and Forest Pr otection for the benefit of the enforcement agencies and the hand book will= be distributed free of charge to the forest and police officials. The club= will continue its Legal Orientation Camps in different parts of Assam in 1= 998, giving more priority to K aziranga National Park, Manas Tiger Project, Dibru-saikhowa Wildlife Sanctu= ary (Now a Biosphere Reserve), Pabitora WLS, Orang WLS and Nameri National = Park. The club offers its gratitude and thanks to all individuals and agencies wh= ich offered assistance and support to the club facilitating smooth conducti= on of different conservation programmes in the region. ANC would like to ap= peal to the potential donor ag encies to extend support to the club to enable the club to take-up follow u= p actions and new Programmes to save the rich biodiversity of the region, w= hich is regarded as one of the Mega-biodiversity site in the world. ANC wil= l appreciate such support in t he days to come. Taking the opportunity the ANC offers its best wishes for= a Happy New Year 1998 to all the readers. Suggestions and advice or querie= s are most welcome. ANC can be contacted at the following address. AARANYAK NATURE CLUB SAMANWOY PATH (SURVEY) PO : BELTOLA, GUWAHATI - 781 028 ASSAM :: INDIA TEL : 0091-361-566087 FAX : 0091-361-567232 E-MAIL : bibhab@gw1.vsnl.net.in ----------------------- es of Protected Areas in Assam to aware the people regarding the need for B= iodiversity conservation. ANC also supported t=80 '&2 Wildlife and forests. ANC organised a number of Bird Watching Camps in the important bird ------------------------------------------------------------------------- `