The migratory bird Amur Falcons have put Manipur’s Tamenglong district in the global map.
Manipur forest and environment minister Thounaojam Shyamkumar said this on Monday.
“The forest, wildlife, sanctuaries and water bodies of the district are the real assets,” he said.
Shyamkumar was speaking at the 5th edition of the Amur Falcon Festival at the Unity Stadium of Tamenglong town, 150 km west of Imphal.
The Tamenglong Forest Division, the Rainforest Club Tamenglong and Tamenglong Baptist Church jointly organized the fest.
Appreciating the villagers for their conservation initiatives in the district, he said the government is working on the jhum cultivation and other alternative livelihood to the villagers.
The Rainforest Club Tamenglong which had been taking various awareness programs on wildlife particularly Amur falcons in Tamenglong also submitted a memorandum demanding separate wildlife division for Tamenglong.
Amur falcons arrive in large numbers in the Northeast, including Manipur from China during October.
They leave the region in November after eating enough insects and termites from fields for their non-stop flight to Africa from India.
Tamenglong DC Armstrong highlighted the steps of the district administration on conservation initiatives of Amur Falcon and the necessity to conserve Hornbill bird in the district.
Informing that 500 hectares of land has been declared as community forest, he said other villages are convinced to come forward together for set up of more community villages.
This year, Suresh Kumar led five-member team from Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun have satellite radio tagged five Amur Falcons including two males at Puching village.
The tagged pigeon size birds are named as Puching, Phalong and Chiulon-all village names and Irang, Barak-names of rivers.
WII scientist Suresh who had tagged more than 10 birds, said that falcons are still flying high in Tamenglong sky “to maintain mountain eco-system on which we’re all dependent.”