WTI team with Mr TR Zeliang

Kohima, April 6, 2015: WTI team had a meeting with TR Zeliang, Chief Minister of Nagaland, at Kohima wherein the latter asked WTI to come up with a comprehensive plan for Amur falcons and elephants in the state. The Forest Minister, Chief Secretary and four other ministers were present during this meeting. Dr. Jagdish Kishwan along with Dilip Deori represented Wildlife Trust of India.

During the course of the meeting, there was a discussion on the conservation of Amur falcons and also the rise of Human-Elephant Conflict in Wokha district.

The Chief Minister in his speech asked WTI to make a comprehensive action plan for Amur falcons and elephant conservation. The outcome of the meeting was that Nagaland Forest Department will collaborate with WTI to come up with a conservation action plan for Amur falcons and elephants the state. Eventually, the plan would be submitted to the state government which will in turn provide full support to WTI team. The Nagaland government has assured full support for the conservation of Amur falcons and elephants.

WTI and Natural Nagas have been working with the local communities and the Forest Department since 2013, through a sustained Rapid Action Project supported by CAF-India, to help save the falcons. In 2014, since the migratory Amur falcons’ arrival in Nagaland, not a single bird was killed in their roosting site in Doyang Reservoir, reported the Amur Falcon Protection Squad (AFPS) – a group of former hunters, who along with the Nagaland Forest Department staff patrolled these areas to keep the birds safe.

This remarkable turnaround – considering tens of thousands of falcons reportedly hunted in 2013 – was brought about through joint initiatives implemented by the local communities, the Forest Department and NGOs including the Natural Nagas and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). This includes daily patrol by the Forest Department staff and AFPS along the Doyang reservoir.