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Eaglenest Biodiversity Project
summary
Page content :
Motivation
Long-term goals
Phase
1 (Nov 2003 - Dec 2004) : Team
Field visits Goals - proposed and disposed
Phase
2 plans
Motivation
Eaglenest is an
extraordinary wildlife sanctuary in a state which is renowned for
wildlife. There are others which are vaster, some span a larger range of
altitude, and perhaps have a longer list; but none have a serviceable
road through them providing easy access across 3500m of altitude. Unlike
other sanctuaries Eaglenest is accessible even during the monsoon.
Birds breed during the monsoon and cold-blooded animals are visible in
Arunachal only during the rains. So monsoon access is essential for many
ecological studies. Furthermore tourists can step off a plane at
Guwahati and be birding in Eaglenest in less than 5 hours! In comparison
it takes a major expedition to get into interior Namdapha during the
rains and a major expedition is required for any visit above 800m
during any season.
This ease of access makes
Eaglenest ideal for studying Arunachal's flora and fauna across a wide
altitudinal range all through the year and the best prospect for
promoting ecotourism as a vehicle for conservation measures. And
Eaglenest desperately needs conservation measures and protection. In
keeping with the tradition of Arunachal Pradesh the local tribes insist
on their hunting rights within the sanctuary even though it is legally
prohibited and a burgeoning population - Arunachal has one of the
highest decadal growth in India - is beginning to nibble away at
the buffer between Eaglenest and civilisation. And this buffer, prime
forest all, is community-owned and is being sold as firewood.
What actually protected
Eaglenest until now was the inability of timber trucks to navigate the
jeep track. While people indulged in some hunting the forest remained
intact and has more-or-less recovered from the trauma of the
construction of the first road 40 years ago. This protection is no
longer valid. Some years ago the Indian army began widening the
Eaglenest track to handle two lanes of their heavy truck traffic. They
also blasted new alignments in several sections devastate the fragile
mountain terrain. Without going into the merits of the often twisted
development v/s conservation debate it is clear that a regular
highway will directly ruin more than 10% of the sanctuary area and
furthermore will be a permanent canker through which the usual suspects
-- from indigent encroachers to timber merchants; from subsistence
poachers to the high society carnivores with a taste for wild meat --
will ravage the area. At the moment the area has some breathing space
with the Supreme Court staying all work on the road until final orders
are passed.
Long-term Goals
- to inventory the flora and fauna of Eaglenest (and
W. Arunachal in general)
- to build a team of Indian, and especially
Arunachali, field biologists of diverse interests who will pursue the
above goal in an effective manner
- to understand the consequences of a road through the
protected area and explore ways and means of mitigating the damage if a
highway is unavoidable
- to explore the prospects of tourism as an
alternative to destructive exploitation of the forest. Central to this
goal is the involvement of the local Bugun and possibly the
neighbouring Sherdukpen tribes.
- to raise the profile of the area among the general
public. While anonymity has saved Eaglenest till now I feel publicity is
essential for defending it from the new danger.
Phase 1 (November 2003 -
December 2004)
We have completed the first step of demonstrating the
potential of the place to a wider audience. We hope to sustain the
process for a few more years until the efforts of the local people and
the reponse of the outside world lead to self-sustaining conservation
measures
The Team
Co-ordinator
Birds
Butterflies
Herpetofauna
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Ramana
Athreya
Ramana Athreya, Pratap Singh, Dhananjai
Mohan and Shashank Dalvi
Ramana Athreya, Viral Mistry and Shashank Dalvi
Ishan Agarwal, Viral Mistry, Ramana Athreya and
Shashank Dalvi
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Field visits
29
Oct - 18 Nov, 2003
20 Mar - 19 Apr, 2004
18 May - 10 Jun, 2004
01 Oct - 23 Oct, 2004
15 Dec - 04 Jan, 2005
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RA
(birds, GPS markers, preliminary organisation)
RA (bird tour)
PS+SD (birds)
RA+IA+VM (butterflies and herps)
RA+DM (birds)
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Goals - proposed and disposed
- Determine the altitudinal distribution of birds
in different seasons
We initially planned to map the avian distribution in 4 different
months. The March count had to be replaced by a demonstration bird tour
in the face of intense local pressure and the October effort was
vitiated by very poor bird activity due to heavy rain. We have collected
data for December and May-June. In some sense these are the most
meaningful months, with 'settled" bird populations, for studying the
altitudinal distribution; October-November and March-April see a lot of
altitudinal movement.
- Inventory the butterflies and herpetofauna of
Eaglenest
Given the poor bird activity in October we concentrated on butterflies
and especially herpetofauna and were suitably rewarded as the webpages
show. We would have also liked to carry out a herpetofaunal and
butterfly survey in May-June but could not due to budgetary and manpower
limitations.
- Generate ecotourism resources
- Publicise the area and its wildlife wealth
The information in these webpages is sufficient for planning a tour to
Eaglenest and W. Arunachal in general. I hope private tour groups and
tour operators will take a serious look at these areas as
eco-destinations. Some have already evinced an interest in doing so.
- Build a photo-library of the fauna of the area
These webpages are the primary product of this goal. The images were
drawn from a large bank of over 1500 slides photographed during the
project.
- Record bird song
We have so far recorded 100+ species (more than 20 hr) and the effort
will continue if we can raise resources. This is to be used as a
scientific database as well as for calling out special birds for
tourists. While song playback can be infinitely abused to the detriment
of birds such sightings bring in tourists and money which may prove
crucial for the long-term conservation of the area. One may have to
rethink the issue if ever tourism reaches epidemic proportions, which is
far from being the case now.
- Altitudinal markers along the Eaglenest road
Alpha-numeric labels have been painted along the roadside in a
non-egregious manner to help visitors, toutists and scientists alike,
estimate the location and altitude of their sightings without having to
carry GPS units. Almost 100 markers have been painted along the 35 km
stretch of road within the Sanctuary.
- train local camp staff for bird tours
A core staff of 3 have now accompanied us on 5 project visits including
a bird tour and are reasonably well versed in the strange ways of
birders and herpers! More shall be trained as demand increases.
- train local wildlife guides
We have started the process but trained bird guides were never going to
happen in one year. We have donated two binoculars and field guides for
birds and snakes to the Bugun Welfare Society and we will encourage
youngsters to take an interest in the wildlife around them. There are
sociological and psychological barriers here which need wearing down.
Many people are only one or zero generations removed from a forest life
and working in a forest is a throwback to what they have struggled hard
to get away from! Those with some schooling -- the kind who can utilise
books and handle diverse clientele -- refuse to step into the forest
(except as wood contractors!) while those willing to work in the
sanctuary are often illiterate.
- Run a pilot/demonstration bird tour
This was not a part of the original proposal but I had to bow to the
wishes of the local people who wanted a practical demonstration of
returns from conservation -- now, and not a decade later! As part of the
Eaglenest Project I contributed my time to advertising, organising and
guiding a bird tour for 3 foreign tourists in April 2004 in
collaboration with Mr. Indi Glow of the Bugun community. Our model for
this first tour, and all future tours, is that (i) all visitors pay a
daily entry fee to the Bugun Welfare Society and (ii) tour operators,
whether local or external, will be strongly encouraged to employ local
camp staff and provision the tour from the local market.
Birdwise, the tour was very successful -- over 17
days in Eaglenest, Pakke and Kaziranga the visitors saw 359 species
including many rarities (see tour list); and this was without birding
above 3000m! The visitors also saw such spectacular mammals as the
indian rhino, elephants, wild buffalo, swamp deer, hoolock gibbon and
many other mammals.
A well planned Eaglenest bird tour should include
in its itinerary nearby area like Pakke and Dirang-Tawang (and even
Kaziranga) to cover the widest possible range of habitats. So I expanded
the scope of the Eaglenest project to include short visits to Dirang and
Tawang to identify good bird areas (I was familiar with Pakke from
before and a well-trodden path leads to Kaziranga)
- Build a team of field biologists for sustained
work in W. Arunachal over the next many years Three of our team were
college students from Mumbai visiting Arunachal for the first time and
it would be safe to say that they are, not surprisingly, hooked! They
are all headed back to Eaglenest this summer even though the project is
over and its coffers are empty. There is enough work to be done in
Arunachal for 5 times that number of workers for many years to come and
the challenge is to (i) raise resources for supporting all of them and
(ii) coopt as many Arunachal students as possible into the team.
Phase
2 plans
- Visit the areas 3 times a year -- in May-June,
October and December -- and continue to compile faunal information,
compile bird song and augment the photo-library.
- expand the activity to Dirang-Tawang and Pakke
which, together with Eaglenest, form an integral whole
- Print publicity material, from the photographs
already collected, for distribution to nature clubs and tour operators,
both Indian and foreign.
- Produce audio-visual presentations for the school
children of Arunachal to inculcate a sense of pride in their invaluable
heritage.
- continue the training of bird guides
- co-opt Arunachal students into our team
Oh yes - raise
resources for achieving these goals!
All help - in cash, kind, time and expertise - will be gratefully
accepted and acknowledged!
The Eaglenest
Biodiversity Project was
funded by a grant from the Rufford Foundation (UK) to Ramana Athreya.
The information contained herein may be freely
used, provided that these webpages and/or the report (Athreya 2005)
are appropriately cited. The images are copyright and may
not be reproduced without permission from Ramana Athreya
The
author would appreciate an email
from people, scientists and tourists alike, who found these webpages
useful. |
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