Assam: Workshop Organised for Turtle Conservation and Management

BISWANATH: A workshop was organised at Biswanath Ghat to spread awareness about turtles and their importance in the region. This special training camp was organised by the Turtle Survival Alliance Foundation India in collaboration with the Biswanath Wildlife Division and East Sonitpur Forest Division.

The one-day training workshop on turtle conservation and management was organised at the Nature Discovery Center at Biswanath Ghat on the occasion of National Wildlife Week. The workshop was attended by about forty frontline forest staff from the Biswanath Wildlife Division and East Sonitpur Forest Division along with a large number of local people. They were taught in detail about turtle identification, ecology and hands-on sessions on turtle nest search and monitoring, handling and practical applications of Wildlife Protection Act 1972 in enforcement.

Sushmita Kar, Project Officer in Northeast India for the Turtle Survival Alliance Foundation India mentioned, "Turtles are one of the most threatened vertebrates on our Earth and this training is aimed at building capacity of the frontline staff in order to extend the current conservation efforts and establish a conservation network for the turtles of the Brahmaputra".

Several dignitaries attended this event, including Dr Sonali Ghosh, Director of Kaziranga National Park, Khagesh Pegu, Divisional Forest Officer of Biswanath Wildlife Division of Kaziranga Tiger Reserve, Biswajyoti Das Divisional Forest Officer of East Sonitpur Forest Division and Pallab Deka, Divisional Forest Officer of Sonitpur Social Forestry Division They shared their knowledge and encouraged the participants to give more effort towards the protection and preservation of turtles.

The organisation’s turtle project in Assam has been actively involved in raising awareness on turtle conservation in the Brahmaputra valley, especially in the North Bank within Kaziranga Tiger Reserve for close to a decade. Bidyut Bikash Chamua and Krishna Das from TSAFI actively assisted the training event, apart from expanding the conservation works in the region.

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