Reviving the Garo Green spine in Meghalaya
In the last 20 plus years of work, Wildlife Trust India (WTI), with support from local communities, Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), State Forest Department and charities like WLT and HCL Foundation, has encouraged communities to set aside crucial wildlife habitats. Today, villages have voluntarily come forward to notify Village Reserve Forests (VRFs), amounting to more than 4200 hectares as on date. Further, between Further, 500-600 locals are now engaged in the habitat restoration through plantation across the Baghmara – Balphakram Corridor supported by HCL Foundation. The project aims at securing the corridor by notifying about 1000 hectares of land as VRF and restoring 150 hectares of degraded habitats in the corridor forests with a target of ensuring 1,50,000 standing trees. VRF’s are now home to a large number of wild animals including the Hoolock gibbons, capped langurs, slow lorises, barking deers, Clouded leopards and great hornbills to name a few. Elephants now have a safe passage to pass through. Over the past few decades, ‘Jhum’ or ‘slash and burn’ cultivation led to erosion and loss of soil fertility and the whole landscape was impacted and human-wildlife conflict too increased. In 2003, WTI intervened to connect the fragmented forest patches located between the West Garo Hills and Nokrek National Park and establishing an unbroken wilderness link with Balpakram National Park, collectively designated as the Garo Green Spine.