Itanagar: The Airgun Surrender Abhiyan in Arunachal Pradesh has received international recognition at the UNESCO’s International Conference on Biosphere Reserves held in Sabah, Malaysia.
The initiative, spearheaded by Mama Natung, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Arunachal Pradesh, was selected as India’s best success story on wildlife conservation to be presented at the conference.
Dr. Damodhar A.T., IFS, Director, Dehang-Debang Biosphere Reserve of Arunachal Pradesh, received the honor on November 13 on behalf of Natung from the Malaysian Federal Government Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmed.
The Airgun Surrender Abhiyan is a voluntary program that encourages people in Arunachal Pradesh to surrender their airguns and licensed guns to help protect the state’s rich biodiversity. The initiative was officially launched on March 17, 2021, in Lumdung, East Kameng District, where 46 airguns were surrendered, and Lumdung was declared the first airgun-free village in Arunachal Pradesh.
Since its inception, the program has gained significant momentum under Natung’s leadership. He has been actively involved in sensitizing people about the importance of wildlife conservation and encouraging them to surrender their airguns.
As a result of this collective effort, more than 2,400 airguns and 9 licensed guns have been surrendered by the people of Arunachal Pradesh.
Dr. Damodhar A.T., IFS, Director, Dehang-Debang Biosphere Reserve of Arunachal Pradesh, said, “It was indeed a great honor for me to represent India and my State Arunachal Pradesh on UNESCO’s global forum and receive the honor for Airgun Surrender Abhiyan in the State of Arunachal Pradesh. I was astonished to see the kind of respect shown to India by the Malaysian Govt. Thanks to MoEF&CC, GoI, and UNESCO.”