Villagers Give Right of Passage to Elephants in Kalapahar-Daigurung Corridor
New Ram Terang, Karbi Anglong, 11 November 2015:
A line up of drummers and dancers in their festive best broke into their routine at the first sight of the dignitaries that converged from various parts of the world to this picturesque unknown corner in the north eastern state of Assam in India. Diwali, the biggest festival in India was far from everyone’s mind on this momentous occasion for the Ram Terang village and the conservation fraternity that worked with them these last five years to help secure a crucial corridor for safe passage of elephants in Kalapahar- Daigurung.
Symbolic handing over of 19 house keys to the village Headman
Marking this milestone in elephant conservation, all residents of Ram Terang village are voluntarily relocating to New Ram Terang,where a village of 19 households a safe distance away from the original site, is in its final stages of completion. The villagers will move into their new houses at Christmas.
On Wednesday, 11th November 2015 New Ram Terang Village was dedicated to the memory of Mark Shand, the Founder of the Elephant Family, well-known for its work for welfare of Asian elephants.. The colourful ceremony kicked off with a traditional welcome and the unveiling of terracotta reliefs dedicated to Mark Shand and the people of Karbi Anglong after which the traditional totem was inaugurated. Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, Founder Patron of Elephant Family and a friend of Mark Shand was the Chief Guest for the ceremony.
The handing over ceremony was attended by the EM (Forests) KAAC, senior forest officials, the Regional Director from UK of WTI’s partner International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the CEOs of Elephant Family and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and a galaxy of guests from abroad.
Karbi folk dance to celebrate the momentous occasion
Overwhelmed by the efforts, inspiration and enthusiasm of people, WTI and forest officials, Ruth Powys, CEO, Elephant Family said, “An entire new village comes to fruition today. We have solved a problem both for elephants and people and I can feel Mark is with us here today. Elephant Family is proud to be part of this venture. Now, every child can play here without danger, and every elephant can move without conflict.”
Ram Terang village is located in the middle of a natural corridor used by the elephants to move between Kalapahar and Daigrung-Nambor Wildlife Sanctuary in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape. It took almost five years of continuous efforts by a dedicated team of WTI officials to instill enough confidence in the villagers of Ram Terang to shift to a new place that involved land for cultivating crops and additional livelihood and facility support, such as organic fishery and wells for water. Much of this was possible with the support of Dr Abhijit Rabha, Additional PCCF of Karbi Anglong Forest Department and from the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC).
Khoi Terang, the village headman thanked all the organisations and agencies that made this move possible.
Welcoming voluntary support of the villagers, Prodip Singnar, Executive Member (Forest) of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) said, “I am so happy to see that the villagers of Ram Terang have voluntarily taken the very pragmatic decision of freeing the area of elephant corridor, and shifting to this new site. I am sure this will motivate other villagers to do the same, and lead a happy life free from elephant conflict”
Thanking the villagers, Dr Jagdish Kishwan, Advisor to the ED and CEO of WTI said, “I am proud and happy that WTI has developed such a close relationship based on mutual trust and confidence with the villagers of Ram Terang that they have decided to voluntarily shift to this location.”
A happy family posing before the terracotta reliefs dedicated to Mark Shand and the people of the village
Vivek Menon, ED and CEO of WTI congratulated the villagers for taking this step forward. Citing an example from the past, he said, “If elephants use the land, you can take a cue that the land is stable. This is what the British followed in the past. There can be no better example of good land if it is used by elephants and there can be nothing better if people can continue to live with elephants on this land. We can save elephants if the people are happy and to this end, we have people from your own community working to set this village up.”
At a distance of 6km from the village is Tokolangso from where 23 households are willing to relocate now that they are convinced. With help from civil society, the council and the government this will be possible to help them take the first step in their march towards development, adopting a socially equitable model that works for both humans and elephants.
WTI has identified100 elephant corridors in India and works on four established model methods of securement. After having secured four corridors in almost a decade of work, WTI is now part of the Asian Elephant Alliance that is aiming to mobilize resources across the world to help secure the remaining corridors by 2050. The other partners include IUCN NL, Elephant Family, World Land Trust and IFAW.
