Sanctuary Asia — January 2018

Sanctuary | People

In the remote villages that fringe the

Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary in Nagaland, a

dynamic duo is transforming community

sentiment towards conservation.

Founders of the Bhutan Glory Eco-club,

Tsuseki and Limthure belong to the

Yimchunger tribe and have spent more

than half-a-decade involving local youth

in conservation, developing cultural

taboos around hunting and documenting

the region’s biodiversity.

Named after the Bhutan glory, a

butterfl y endemic to the region, the

club collaborated with the state Forest

Department to convert Fakim (pop.

450), into Nagaland’s fi rst complete

LED village. The duo’s relentless eff orts

won the support of the community

and their village counsel, which, for

starters forbade hunting during

breeding seasons.

BHUTAN GLORY ECO-CLUB

Fellows of Green Hub, a youth and

community-based video documentation

centre, they are focused on documenting

community eff orts to protect the

environment, wildlife and biodiversity of

Northeast India. Tsuseki and Limthure

are profi cient photographers and

videographers. Their biodiversity interests

have seen them document 44 species

of birds and 101 species of butterfl ies in

Fakim alone. Their photos were published

in a book Wildlife of Fakim, which has

helped to create awareness about the

region’s biodiversity amongst locals and

were also exhibited for local communities,

church leaders and village heads.

“Tsuseki and Limthure’s work is

of real value. Their perseverance has

resulted in their remote and hunting-

impacted village moving towards forest

protection and conservation,” says Rita

Banerji, wildlife fi lmmaker and founder

of Greenhub.

On the recommendation of Banerji,

Tsuseki and Limthure were appointed

Project Leaders for Sanctuary’s ‘Mud

on Boots’ project in January 2017. The

grant they received has enabled them

to conduct weekly sessions for 18 key

members of the Bhutan Glory Eco-club.

Since then they have held photography

workshops and awareness programmes

for students in the nearby government

primary school. What was most

heartening was the invitation from the

Forest Department in Khonoma village

to present their fi ndings of the survey

conducted to assess the status of the

vulnerable Blyth’s Tragopan. This was

followed by an invitation from the Forest

Department of the Tseminyu village, who

wanted to know more about their work

COURTESY: BHUTAN GLORY ECO-CLUB