PASIGHAT, 26 Dec: Daying Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary (DEMWS) organised a training and capacity-building workshop on ‘Systematic wildlife and habitat monitoring’ for its frontline staff here in East Siang district, in partnership with the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology & the Environment (ATREE), on Friday.
The workshop brought together 35 frontline forest staffers, and aimed to strengthen their skills in scientific wildlife monitoring techniques, with focus on long-term conservation planning and systematic field-based data collection from plants and animals within the sanctuary.
In her welcome note, DEMWS DFO Kempi Etehighlighted the importance of regular and systematic monitoring for effective wildlife management. “The frontline staff of DEMWS are deeply dedicated and committed, spending a large part of their time in the wilderness. The time is now right to equip them with the necessary technical skills, so they can undertake the sanctuary’s first systematic baseline assessment of wildlife and habitats,” she said.
This was followed by a technical session on camera trapping by Dr Rajkamal Goswami, fellow and lead of the ATREE Arunachal Pradesh team, during which he highlighted the broader significance of the training.
“If this initiative proves successful, this group under the leadership of Kempi Ete will become part of DEMWS’ history, marking the sanctuary’s first systematic, landscape-scale baseline assessment of wildlife and habitat,” he said.
Goswami also explained the design and basic working principles of camera traps, how to select appropriate camera traps and accessories, different camera trapping approaches, and best practices for using, managing, and transferring data.
In the second technical session, Dr Aavika Dhanda, project manager at ATREE Arunachal Pradesh, led a session on bird and habitat monitoring, focusing on practical methods to assess bird diversity and habitat conditions in grassland ecosystems.
In the afternoon, a field demonstration was jointly conducted by Dr Aavika Dhanda, along with Atto Mimi and Prachaya Sharma, during which the participants received hands-on training in deploying camera traps in the field, using GPS handsets and rangefinders, along with practical demos of different camera trap models.
The workshop provided the frontline staff with practical tools and knowledge to strengthen wildlife and habitat monitoring efforts at DEMWS, contributing to improved conservation outcomes in the region.
DFO Ete said, “We are grateful to the ATREE team, particularly Dr Rajkamal Goswami, for conducting this training at short notice. We hope this initiative will contribute meaningfully to building the long-term technical capacity of our frontline staff.”
All the staffers who attended the training received certificates of completion. (DIPRO)
