Tura (Meghalaya): Residents of Selbalgre, a village in the West Garo Hills, Meghalaya, have set aside an additional hundred hectares of land for the conservation of the Hoolock gibbon. The land was handed over to the executive committee of the Selbalgre Village Reserve Forest comprising of the villagers and the officials of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), Meghalaya Forest Department and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) during an event organised last week in Selbalgre.

Locally known as ‘Huro’, the Hoolock gibbon, a schedule I species, is revered by the Garo community and the villagers have been voluntarily participating in its conservation. In April 2007, they consented to the formation of the Village Reserve Forest in an effort to provide a continuous stretch of forest cover between Rongram and Nokrek National Park for the movement of the wild animals including the Hoolock gibbons and the Asian elephants.

The villagers had, in December last year, resolved to contribute more land to extend the Reserve Forest, and in compliance, voluntarily handed over the additional land to the executive committee. Dr Rahul Kaul, Director, Wild Lands and Wild Species Programmes, WTI said, “Bigger reserves mean better chances of survival for the species. This is a welcome step and hopefully more land will be similarly added in the future.”

A traditional ceremony led by the Nokma (village head)of Selbalgre was organised for the official hand-over of the land, which was attended by the officials of GHADC, forest department and WTI. The ceremony involved rituals and prediction by the Nokma regarding the future of the project. The leader, after the ceremony declared that the signs were favourable.

Meghalaya, because of the thin top-soil layer and a high rate of erosion as a result of high rainfall, mainly follows a ‘jhum’ agricultural system. The tradition of ‘jhum’ cultivation has fragmented the forests affecting the wildlife of the region and bringing them into conflict with the humans. GHADC, the forest department and WTI has been working with the local communities in the Garo Hills since 2006 to acquire and secure the habitat of the endangered Hoolock gibbon with support from the British government through its High Commission in India, the World Land Trust, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and WTI’s international partner the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Plantations of indigenous species have also been carried out to restore the areas within the reserve, bared due to cultivation.