NAMDAPHA, 5 Oct: While stating that the famous Namdapha National Park has diminished over the years the Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein has called for the need to protect the core habitat area of the Tiger Reserve from any human disturbance and get rid of encroachment in order to bring back the old glory of Namdapha National Park.
The DCM said this while attending the valedictory function of the 5th edition of Namdapha Butterfly Meet 2022 at Deban Camp in Namdapha National Park & Tiger Reserve on Tuesday last.
He stated that govt. will make every effort to preserve, protect and conserve the natural biodiversity of Namdapha National Park. He appealed to the people from nearby areas not to encroach into the Tiger Reserve area adding that the govt. will help find new places for rehabilitations of those settled villages inside the Tiger Reserve and their grievances will be brought before the ministry of forest, GoI for resettlement.
He also commended the efforts made by the Team Namdapha led by field director of Namdapha National Park & Tiger Reserve, Aduk Paron for successfully carrying out eviction drive of 8 families who had encroached into the Burma Nallah near 40 miles.
He informed that Namdapha National Park, which is a home to 1899 fauna and 1188 flora species including endangered species of rare plants and animals, is one of the richest biodiversity hotspot. “With about 512 species of butterfly, it is a home to highest numbers of butterfly species found in Arunachal Pradesh,” he added.
While lauding the initiative of the Society for Education & Environmental Development (SEED), Mein said, “We can celebrate the Namdapha Butterfly Festival in a bigger scale. It can be named as ‘Namdapha Butterfly Festival’ – A Biodiversity Meet in Arunachal Pradesh. It will not only be a Namdapha event but of all Arunachal Pradesh where we will showcase the biodiversity as well as the rich cultural diversity of our state. We can invite environmentalists, biologists and research scholars from across the globe, not only to do research and enjoy the Butterfly Festival but also to teach us the ways to conserve and protect the natural habitats of our rich flora & fauna.”
Through such festival, he also advocated to link tourism with nature in order to promote ecotourism and other economic activities associated with nature’s tourism.
Addressing over 100 participants from various Institutes from Arunachal Pradesh, North Eastern states and other parts of the country, the DCM appealed to them to spread the message of conservation of nature through the Butterfly Meet and to carry forward the legacy of our age-old relations with nature by protecting and conserving it.
Minister for urban development & housing, food & civil supply, Kamlung Mossang, Arunachal Chamber of Commerce & Industry secretary general Toko Tatung, environmentalists/biologists and participants also spoke on the occasion.
Society for Education and Environmental Development (SEED) general secretary Minom Pertin while highlighting the findings of the 5th edition of Namdapha Butterfly Meet 2022, informed that 214 species of butterfly were recorded in the three days meet. He informed that 105 participants from Arunachal, Assam, Nagaland, Sikkim, West Bengal, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu attended the meet.
Namsai MLA Chau Zingnu Namchoom, Miao ADC Ibom Tao and officers from Namdapha National Park & Tiger Reserve also accompanied the DCM during the butterfly watching at Lungkai Nallah crossing Nao Dihing River. (DCM’s PR cell)
