Page 45 - Demo

Ranggira Tura
Rongram Duragre
Rongrengre RF
N WE S
Balpakram NP
Halwa Atong Rongmara
Nokrek NP
Chokpot Imangre RE
Eman Rompagre
Siju WLS
MEGHALAYA
Jadegindam VRF Rewak RF
Artika VRF
Ampangre Baghmara
0 7.5 15 Kilometers
BANGLADESH
Baghmara
RF
Above:
Elephant Corridors in Garo Hills
long back that to secure forests and wildlife we would have to first se- cure the lives of the communities living around these forests. Hence, management of these forests need to be planned in a way that in- cludes community participation throughout, which has been the mantra of Forest Department for a long time.
Communities in Garo hills are predominantly forest dependent and get livelihood from forests resources.
Hence, they have always been conservation oriented because they know that their lives and livelihoods are affected when forests are depleted. The Garo hills are part of the largest elephant landscape in Meghalaya, which includes the Garo hills elephant Reserve spread across 3500 square kilometers, viz, the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve, three Protected Areas (Balpakram National Park, Siju Wildlife Sanc- tuary and Nokrek National Park), Baghmara Reserved forest and five crucial elephant corridors (community forests, looked after by the district council) which together support around 800-1000 elephants.
The communities have been proactive in the conservation of their forests and have been voluntarily setting aside huge patches of their forests for declaring as village reserves. With their help Forest Depart- ment has been able to declare over 200 registered Village Reserved Forests with many more under process.
45