Namsing, Arunachal, 17 December 2020:

Wildlife Trust of India with the support of the World Land Trust recently organized a football tournament during the Solung festival as a D’ering –Dibru Saikhowa Elephant Link Project people participation activity.

The Solung festival observed in Arunachal Pradesh during the first week of September is a celebration of the agrarian life in this region and the first sowing of paddy crops.

The tournament was conducted observing the Covid19 pandemic restrictions, and saw participation from the beneficiary villages of this project, namely the Mer, Paglam, Gadum, Seram, Namsing and Borguli.

Titled the Elephant Cup (First Edition), the tournament which was held at the Namsing village, kicking off with two minute silence to honor the recent demise of Diego Maradona,  the Elephant Cup had a total of nine matches with each of these villages fielding their best teams. Footaball as a sport has an immense cultural significance in Arunachal Pradesh and the tournament which lasted four days had a spectatorship of over 1000 football fans.

Key dignitaries witnessing the tournament included Shri Gumin Tayeng, Chairperson, Kotga Gorah Community Reserve Society (KGCRS), Shri Akan Regon, Secretary, KGCRS, Shri Palwan Pangging, Executive Member, KGCRS along with Shri O. Tayeng, Range Forest Officer, Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department along with his staff.

The Borguli Football Club, Borguli won the cup and were felicitated with a prize money. The best goalkeeper, attacker, defender, player and the highest scorer of the tournament were also felicitated at the end of the tournament.

The tournament concluded with the attendees pledging to curb traditional practices of bird hunting, a local sport and to promote football as a healthy sport.

“This is the first time that such a tournament has been organized in our village. It is a great platform to spread the message of elephant conservation to a wider audience, especially the village youth, who are the torch bearers of wildlife conservation” said Shri Perme, Gaon Burah (Village headman) of Namsing village. He was given a printer to assist the children of the Namsing village school in their studies.

The entire tournament was organized without using plastics which avoiding PET bottles of drinking water and using the village bore well. All the placards and banners were made either of cloth or of paper. The tournament concluded with a traditional dance by the womenfolk marking the end of the Solung Festival.

WTI, with support from WLT, is actively engaged in the securement of the D’ering-Dibru Saikhowa elephant corridor with an aim to get atleast 500 hectares of corridor forest notified as Community Conserved Area. The tournament is seen as a major step forward in strengthening the ties with the communities and build local support for elephant conservation.

All pics by Vibhor Choudhary