Agartala: Aiming to formulate a comprehensive strategy to restore habitat under the Hoolock gibbon conservation action plan, the Tripura Forest Department, in collaboration with Guwahati-based NGO Aranyak, and Tripura University, began a three-day consultative workshop for the wildlife managers on Wednesday.
As many as 17 primate experts from the Northeast have participated in the workshops hosted by the Tripura Biodiversity Board (TBB), along with the foresters and community representatives from the gibbon habitat of Tripura.
The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Dr Avinash Kanfade, Chief Wildlife Warden Pravin Agrawal, and Vice Chancellor of Tripura University, Prof G P Prasain addressed the inaugural session, seeking support for wildlife conservation.
TBB officials said it targeted to sensitise all the stakeholders to ensure the sustainable survival and thriving of the hoolock gibbons in their natural habitats and chalk out a comprehensive plan to address the challenges in the conservation of primates to promote the the long-term biodiversity of Tripura.
“During the workshop, the experts, in consultation with the stakeholders, will finalise the protocol for population monitoring of hoolock gibbon, restore their natural habitat, to engage community for conservation education, sensitise enforcement agencies, formulate a manual for capacity building and training, and conduct scientific research and behavioral studies of primate animals for 2025–2030,” said Chief Wildlife Warden Agarwal.
The experts highlighted the present status and conservation threats and opportunities in the changing scenario of forest management in Tripura and came up with a landscape-level strategy for managing the upper canopy of the forest landscape in harmony with the various components of forest biodiversity.