WII has been working in the state of Arunachal Pradesh on issues related to biodiversity conservation and livelihood enhancement.

As part of the organization’s program on Rhododendron conservation a community owned Rhododendron arboretum has been established in village Sakpret, Tawang. Rhododendron is the preferred fuel wood species and large extent of land which was earlier under forest cover has now got degraded due to excessive lopping. The arboretum, established over an area of 8 hectares is a protected area with good growth of Rhododendron species. The first community owned nursery has also been established in the village wherein more than 5,000 saplings of Rhododendrons have been successfully raised. The local community has been trained on various aspects of restoration and a restoration demonstration plot will be established soon.

As part of the livelihood enhancement initiatives in the region, a community owned food processing unit has been set up in Sakpret. The villagers have been trained in production and marketing of Rhododendron squash. The unit marked profit in the first year itself with the villagers producing nearly 3,000 litres of squash and selling it completely. They gained a monetary benefit of Rs 1.2 lakhs as labour charges and a profit of Rs 40,000/-. These initiatives of the organization have been supported by Department of Science and Technology, Sir Ratan Tata Trust and IVth Battalion Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Force.

As part of the joint livelihood enhancement initiative, WII in collaboration with ITBP has set up a mushroom production unit in a remote border village, Brokenthang in Tawang district. The unit has also marked profit in the first year itself and the demand for the product and livelihood enhancement due to the unit has motivated the villagers to intensify the production in the coming year.

WII is also working on mammalian diversity in Mouling National Park in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. A baseline survey of the mammalian diversity existing in the national park has been conducted through community consultation.

All the above projects are being implemented by the Tawang office with technical support from the Head Office.

For more information on these projects, please contact:

Monalisa Sen
Program Officer
Winrock International India
788, Udyog Vihar – Phase V
Gurgaon - 122 001
India
Tel: + 91-124-4303868
          9871747467
Fax: + 91-124-4303862
Email: monalisa@winrockindia.org