Project
India
India is a fascination for us. Incredibly diverse, very large, with a huge population and yet insane treasures of nature. The biodiversity of India is just like the culture of this large country: Stunningly diverse and incredibly fascinating with 15 cat species.
One particularly outstanding area in India is the North East with its habitat from the rainforest up to the foothills of the Himalayas.
Shergaon Forest
The Shergaon Forest is a forested area that is adjacent to the Eaglenest Sanctuary. The Eaglenest Sanctuary is well known for it's birdwatching but also by mammalwatchers as the place to have a chance to spotting the Asiatic golden cat.
Shergaon Forest is on the other side of the pass and is most certainly home to the same animals. It has a lot of incredibly valuable forest left and is critical for wildlife dispersal towards adjacent forest habitats.
Home of the wild cats
As no studies have been carried out in this area so far (this is the first step of this project), we cannot yet substantiate this information but we expect the following wildcats in this forest:
Asiatic golden cat (confirmed)
Marbled cat (confirmed)
Leopard cat (confirmed)
Fishing cat
Jungle cat
Clouded leopard
A collaboration with
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First Year
Survey targeting the small cat species
Survey to understand the direct and indirect threads
Survey on the community's perception and attitude about wildlife and its habitat
Second Year
Sustainable ecotourism model established in partnership with the tribe
Community resolution to preserve
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Third year
Change in perception
Shergaon declared as a Community Conservation Area
A collaboration with
About WTI
Wildlife Trust of India is a leading Indian nature conservation organisation committed to the service of
nature. Its mission is to conserve wildlife and its habitat and to work for the welfare of individual wild
animals, in partnership with communities and governments. Since its inception in 1998, WTI’s work towards
achieving its vision of a secure natural heritage of India, in six priority landscapes, knit holistically together
by nine key strategies or Big Ideas. Spending about 80% of its funds on‐field activities, the organisation has
grown into one of the top wildlife conservation organisations in India. The organisation works on a range of
wildlife issues with considerable support from communities and non‐governmental and governmental
organisations.
About Garung Thuk
Garung Thuk which means "our village" is a small NGO of a few like minded people that work for the development the village of Shergaon. They have divided themselves into various smaller groups to take care of departments namely Education, Heritage Culture and Tradition (HTC), Agriculture and allied departments, Health and tourism. Each department within the organisation caters to the developmental activities respective area. For instance, HTC works for documentation and promotion of tradition and culture of Sherdukpens.