Extending a vital corridoR

A Wildlife Corridor From Bhutan to Burma

WildLandscapes International is partnering with Aaranyak to develop a science-based reserve design to help safeguard the globally significant biological hotspot of Northeast India, protecting the world’s largest populations of Bengal tigers, Asian elephants, one-horned rhinos, and thriving bird diversity.

Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the focal point of this project. The reserve design will develop corridors and preserve new areas to allow wildlife to migrate in and out of the National Park. Conserving this region is key to the watershed of the mighty Brahmaputra River that drains into the vast mangrove forests of the Sundarbans.

Protecting Wildlife In and Around Karbi Anglong

Aaranyak works with local communities promoting the sustainable use of natural resources and the creation of alternative income opportunities. Specifically, Aaranyak advocates for the sustainable harvest of non-timber forest products (NTFP), homestead agroforestry, the establishment of green enterprises within the local communities, and increasing community-led eco-adventure tourism to protected areas.

Aaranyak’s current focus area is Karbi Anglong (“Hills of Karbi” in the Karbi language), a 2.6 million-acre forested area in the state of Assam. The Karbi Anglong is a critical highland landscape for the multi-species annual migration, which occurs during the flooding of the Brahmaputra River in the monsoon season (June - October) and consequent inundation of the Kaziranga National Park’s safe lands. More than 75% of the region is still forested, and it hosts two well-known wildlife sanctuaries: Garampani Wildlife Sanctuary (6 km2) and Nambor Wildlife Sanctuary (37 km2); home to the largest population of endangered hoolock gibbons.

Unfortunately, the Karbi Anglong has been a landscape of resistance, and its conservation faces many challenges: deforestation, soil erosion, poaching, illegal wildlife trafficking, civil unrest, lack of law enforcement, and exploited local economies.

Empowering Northeast India’s Local Communities

To improve local communities’ wellbeing and wildlife conservation, Aaranyak initiated a pilot project in 2017 that integrates conservation and economic development in 90,000 acres of the Karbi Anglong, adjacent to ecological corridors connecting to Kaziranga National Park. Its objectives include:

● Engage with the communities to raise awareness about economic benefits from ecotourism and sustainable extraction of NTFP.

● Raise awareness about the negative impacts of ongoing deforestation and poaching.

● Align community development goals to sustainable development goals.

● Create a constructive environment and test potential for ecotourism opportunities.

● Empower local women and youth by developing a direct source-market channel for local products, increasing fair trade opportunities, and establishing ecotourism infrastructure.

● Establish a community conservancy that protects elephants, tigers, numerous species of ungulates, healthy primate populations, and a diverse array of birds.

● Reduce slash and burn cultivation land-use area by 50% by 2030.

For more information, see our project book below: