Fakim guide wins wildlife conservation award

[caption id="attachment_216262" align="aligncenter" width="565"] File photo: Alemba Yimchunger with his sister-in-law in Kiphire.[/caption] Our Correspondent Kohima, Nov. 4 (EMN): Alemba Yimchunger, a camp guide in the Kiphire wildlife division has been conferred ‘Forest Rangers & Guards of the Eastern Himalayas’ award for his efforts in protecting the wildlife of Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary in Kiphire district. Yimchunger was honoured along with 12 other eco-crusaders at the 6th Balipara Foundation Awards at a function held in Guwahati on Nov. 2, in recognition of their contributions towards restoring and preserving the pristine beauty of the Himalayas. “Alemba Yimchunger has made a wide-ranging impact by radiating his conservationist nature to not only the people of his village but villages which are adjacent to his as well. His efforts have made sure that the pressure on forest resources are reduced in the Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary. Because of his involvement in the region, his extensive knowledge has been useful to understand the movements of animals in and around the areas or the forests – allowing camera trap studies to take place,” a press release from the organisers on Sunday stated. He was described as an inspirational nature lover who goes beyond the call of duty to preserve nature. Yimchunger is stated to have been a part of the anti-poaching squad that helps to secure the Fakim sanctuary which has been ‘an integral part of the India-Myanmar border’. For the small community of Naga wildlife researchers and conservationists, who attempts to explore and study the stunning wildlife of Fakim forest at Pungro in Kiphire district, Alemba Yimchunger is nothing short of a legend. The fifty-two-year-old Yimchunger’s ‘knowledge and natural instinct’ about the terrain and the habits of its wildlife-residents have for long astounded researchers who venture inside the Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary. His history as a hunter in his youth, as is wont among most male Naga members, has only helped to sharpen his instinct and understanding of the wild. “More than anything else, it is his natural ability to track animals and the knowledge he posses about the forest,” a Naga wildlife researcher had told Eastern Mirror earlier this year. For the past three decades, Yimchunger has been employed by the state’s department of Forest as a camp guide inside Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary. Born in Fakim, it was natural for him to grow up hunting wildlife in the rich forests around his village. However, as years turned, the dwindling wildlife in the region began to distress him and in the 1980s he discarded the ‘cultural norm of hunting’ and joined the cause to conserve the stunning biodiversity of Fakim. The respect he commands among senior forest officials and researchers comes from the fact that he has been instrumental to the success of numerous expeditions and conservation initiatives in and around Fakim, including the conservation planting of Cephalotaxus mannii, a threatened species of tree; the distribution of solar lamps, seedlings and poultry to members of the community; camera-trapping exercises; and guiding and hosting researchers from across the country. The ‘Forest Rangers & Guards of The Eastern Himalayas’ award for this year was also conferred on Dorji Wangchuk for his contributions to social development of forest fringe communities around the Royal Manas Park and helping Bhutan realise its goal to double the tiger population by 2020 by preserving the animal.