Guwahati, September 2: Biodiversity conservation organisation Aaranyak with objective to highlight importance of primate species in our ecology, facilitated several collaborative awareness programmes in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh on the occasion of International Primates Day yesterday.

Aaranyak in collaboration with the Government Upper Primary School, Tafragram in Lohit district  Arunachal Pradesh celebrated International Primates Day, thanks to the initiative of the school head teacher. The celebration was marked by screening of short films on primates besides a audio-visual lectures on Primates in NE India with special focus on Hoolock Gibbon.  There was also an interaction with students. The programme ended with distribution of educational materials i.e. books, posters on Gibbon conservation. Aaranyak’s resource Mridupaban Phukan and Akshay Upadhya played a key role in successful conduct of the programme.

Aaranyak also collaborated with Department of Zoology, Jawaharlal Nehru College, Boko in Assam to celebrate International Primate Day. The programme was set on the roll by the Head of Zoology Department and followed by  audio-visual lecture on Primates of Northeast East India. There was also interaction with students on the issues of primate conservation in Assam. The resource person of the events were Dr. Rekha Chetry, Associate Professor and Mrs. Nanda Devi Associate Professor of Department of Zoology.

Western Assam Zone of Aaranyak in collaboration with Aie Valley Forest division, Bongaigaon district and Department of Botany of Abhayapuri College celebrated International Primate Day in Hapachara Madhya & High School of Bongaigaon district.

The programme started with a drawing competition among the students of class six to ten in two categories. An awareness meeting was held where the Head Teacher of the school  Ramen Chandra Barman presided over.

Dharam Ranjan Roy, a member of Aaranyak delivered a brief lecture with reference to the significance of the International Primate Day.  Dr. Ashoke Kumar Das, the Coordinator of Aaranyak West Zone has elaborated about the present day non-human primate family with special reference to the primate species available in Assam.

As the school is located near the Kakoijana Reserve forest, the habitat of the critically endangered Golden langur, he appealed to the students and teachers to play an active role in the conservation of Golden langur and their habitats.

On behalf of the Botany department of Abhayapuri College, Dr. Subrata Sarkar spoke about the role of primate and other animals in the forest environment and the need for their conservation.

During the meeting, the prizes of the drawing competition were also conferred. The name of the prize-winning students are- Hazrat Ali and Shaina Khatun of Class VII, Beauty Sarma of Class V, Ajimul Husain and Martina Sangma of Class IX and Tazuma Parbin of Class II.

Kachugaon Forest Division and Aaranyak jointly celebrated International Primate Day at No.999 Oxiguri LP School, located in Oxiguri Forest Village under Western Range of Raimona National Park, with the goal of raising awareness about the importance of Golden Langurs and strengthening park-people relationships.

The programme was graced by  Assam Gourav awardee Dharanidhar Boro, Bhanu Sinha, Divisional Forest Officer, Kachugaon Division, Dr. Firoz Ahmed, Scientist-F of Aaranyak, and interacted with the students and the local people of the village.

The celebration was attended by range officers from all four ranges of Raimona National Park, Kankan Kaushik, Biswajit Basumatary, Pabitra Das, and  Jashmanik Musahari, as well as the headmaster of the school and gaon buhras from Oxiguri, Dumbazar, and Amritpur villages. Dr Dipankar Lahkar, Aaranyak's Senior Conservation Biologist, moderated the programme. Momita Narzary, Birdutta, Biswajit, Mizing and Bijit of Aaranyak were present in the programme.

An Art competition was also held in which 29 students were participated in the programme that was participated by 120 persons including schoolchildren, local villagers, and forest staff.