CANOPIES AND CORRIDORS
Conserving the forest of Garo Hills with elephant and gibbon as flagships
 The Balphakram and Nokrek protected areas are the two ecological crown jewels of the Garo Hills. The two are connected tenuously by forest along the spine of the Garo Hills much of which is akhin owned, private community forests and jhummed land. Wildlife still flourishes here and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) with the World Land Trust, British High Commission and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has worked with the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council and the Meghalaya Forest Department in preserving these representative forests of the Garo Hills using an innovative protection mechanism. This report documents the declaration of village reserves in the Garo Hills - the Selbelgre Village Reserve forest to protect gibbons and the Siju-Aretika Village Reserve forest and Rewak Kosigre Village Reserve to secure a critical elephant corridor that was earlier identified by WTI and IFAW with support from the US Fish and Wildlife Services. Gibbons are canopy dependent species and elephants require terrestrial corridors for their nomadic existence; two appropriate flagships for preserving the linkages that connect the wildlife protected areas of the Garo Hills. View Report (11.1 MB)
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