Dec

WTI Provides GPS Training to Volunteers to Monitor Corridors during Floods

Dr. Pranjit Kumar Sarma,Assistant Professor of Geography, interacting with the participants during GPS training for corridor monitoring organised by WTI in colaboration with Elephant Family and KAAAC at CWRC Kaziranga on 4th July 2015.Photo:Subhamoy Bhattacharjee/WTI

Dr. Pranjit Kumar Sarma training volunteers on how to use GPS

Kaziranga, July 4, 2015: Elephant Family and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) recently roped in volunteers to monitor corridors in Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape. These volunteers were given hands-on skill development training on Global Positioning Systems (GPS) at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga National Park. This training was to ensure safety of elephants passing through the notified corridors of Kaziranga–Karbi Anglong landscape and is supported by Assam Forest Department and Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC).

WTI in a joint venture with Elephant Family is trying to develop a volunteer group for ‘Corridor Monitoring’ during floods with help from local youth. This ‘Corridor Monitoring’ process will help understand the status of displaced animals and provide adequate protection to animals in distress. These volunteers would be called Green Corridor Monitors (GCM) and will keep an eye on animal movement, especially elephants.

Dr. Pranjit Kumar Sarma, known conservationist and Assistant Professor of Geography at Magaldai College in Assam, gave theoretical and practical sessions on the use of GPS to the volunteers during the day-long exercise.

Dr. Bhaskar Choudhury, Regional Head, IFAW- WTI, along with Dillip Deori, Manager, WTI, held sessions on the practical application of GPS devices on ground. They also briefed the volunteers on how to analyse the monitoring data on animal movement during natural and man-made crisis.

The results of this GPS training will only be available when these volunteers start monitoring following the guidelines issued during the training session. Apart from these volunteers, WTI staff also participated in the training to understand how to use this data in rescue situations.

These nine volunteers, led by team leader Dibyajyoti Baruah, will monitor the Kanchanjuri, Panbari and Amguri corridor areas of Kaziranga- Karbi Anglong landscape. These Green Corridor Monitors will be provided GPS trackers and logistic support to record data on elephant movement and their habitat status. This will help in creating a resourceful data bank which will help in preparing a future course of action for elephant conservation in Kaziranga –Karbi Anglong landscape.

In another development, on July 3, 19 youth from the Green Hub — a community based video documentation center for recording wildlife, environment and people’s biodiversity in the northeast of India — were briefed about the activities of WTI with special emphasis on CWRC. This batch visited CWRC as part of their orientation on wildlife conservation.

Rita Bannerjee, a wildlife filmmaker and the head of the Green Hub, and Dr. Neeraj Kakati from Wildlife Institute of India were also present during the programme. Dr. Bhaskar Choudhury, Regional Head, IFAW-WTI, interacted with the participants and made an audio-visual presentation on IFAW-WTI’s work in northeast India.