Dimapur, Dec. 10 (EMN): On the last day of the 9th Eastern Himalayan Naturenomics Forum, an annual event of the Balipara Foundation, which was held at Taj Vivanta Guwahati, the forum awarded and recognised extraordinary visionaries of the Eastern Himalayas and their indomitable contribution.
An update informed that the event was held on the theme ‘Ecology is Economy’ from Dec. 7 the 9th, wherein grassroots leaders, who have worked to empower, engage, sensitise their communities towards environmental protection and create opportunities for rural livelihoods were honoured with Social Impact Recognition Award, which comes with a citation from the Social Impact Recognition Fund of Balipara Foundation.
Ivan Zhimomi of Nagaland, who is a local champion of mobilising the people in the region to establish a network of community-conserved areas (CCA) - The Tizu Valley Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihood Network at Zunheboto received the Rural Futures Rewilding Award 2021. While Sonam Tashi Gyaltsen won the Naturenomics Award 2021. Gyaltsen is the founder of La (2016), an Echostream's own product/social enterprise, which is focused in developing the creative industry capacity and capabilities in the Indian Himalayan Region starting with Sikkim. He also founded a zero-waste tea brand called ‘T’, which won the CII-NID Design Excellence award in 2015 in the industrial design category, it stated.
The Naturenomics Award 2021 went to Kurule Tenupa village of Nepal, which has reversed and solved the issue of water crisis through permaculture and established various learning grounds. Momee Pegu of Assam received the Food for the Future Award 2021 for her effort to connect indigenous women by creating organic pesticides, sustainable activity and organic farming. She has also generated employment for villages by creating a better livelihood.
It said that Gopal Nag, a person with disability from Assam’s Biswanath Chariali district received the Food for the Future Award 2021 for his extraordinary grit and patience to create a food farm at his backyard despite. Layland Marak of Meghalaya received the Green Guru Award 2021 for helping his community under Rongram Community and Rural Development block earn a better livelihood. While the Green Guru Award 2021 was given to Amir Hamza Xihad of Bangladesh for Mekateam, which is a social start-up which facilitates Team Building activities, which through interactive learning sessions and games targeting corporate, students and professionals from diverse background.
The Young Naturalist Award 2021 recipient was Lalvohbika of Mizoram, who is a 28-year-old hunter-turned conservationist from West Phaileng village of Mizoram’s Mamit district. He has made many wildlife video documentaries to create awareness among the mass focusing on the youths of Mizoram.
Kime Rambia of Arunachal Pradesh, a range Forest officer based at the Tippi Range, Pakke Tiger Reserve of East Kameng district in Arunachal Pradesh also received the Forest Ranger & Guards Award 2021 along with Dorji Duba of Bhutan, who coordinates with all tiger research and conservation work in Bhutan. He is the field expert in camera trapping, who was the first to get a photo of the elusive Snow leopard at JSWNP, Bhutan. He also rediscovered the Primula Chasmophyla, an endemic plant to Bhutan, from JSWNP in 2019.
Manjit Patir of Assam received the Rural Futures Rewilding Grant 2021 for donating trees to bring environment awareness among local people. He formed the Prakritik Bhiksu Dal, renamed as Save Green World Mission and also encouraged local youth to do voluntary conservation by planting or dedicating a sapling. The Lifetime Service Award 2021 was presented to Dr. Prabin Saikia of Assam, who is preserving the age-old Assamese traditional knowledge in context to rituals, belief and medicinal usage of indigenous plants species. His self-curated indigenous botanical library ‘Banatirtha’ is now habitat to many wild species, it read.
Meanwhile, the 9th Rabindranath Borthakur Memorial Lecture was given by Mahua Moitra (MP), wherein he said, “I firmly believe that the common citizens of India, the grassroots indigenous communities play a crucial role in combating climate change, and through the Balipara Foundation Award’s vision of Rural Futures, we celebrate these indigenous communities, whose voices inspires us every day, the change-makers who make this world a better place for all of us to live in”.
It added that the Naturenomics Forum 2021 has seen participation from across 12 Eastern Himalayan capitals and 20+ global locations. Since its inception in 2013, the annual Eastern Himalayan Eastern Himalayan Naturenomics Forum of Balipara Foundation has been addressing conservation challenges through the proprietary developmental framework of Rural Futures and Naturenomics, envisioning putting nature back into the economics and ‘now’ is the right time to seize this opportunity. It has recognised over 120 earth heroes, who have impacted over 2800 livelihoods, restored nearly 2000 hectares of forest lands, and protected over 600 endemic species.