HT Correspondent
TEZPUR, Nov 20: The Regional Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop for the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE) 2026 – Eastern Zone Tiger Reserves was inaugurated on Wednesday at Nameri Tiger Reserve in Sonitpur district. Coordinated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), AITE is one of the world’s largest wildlife monitoring exercises, entering its sixth cycle in 2026.
The inaugural ceremony was chaired by MK Yadava, Special Chief Secretary (Forest) in the presence of Dr Vinay Gupta Chief Wildlife Warden of Assam, Rajendra Garawad, Dr Vaibhav C Mathur DIG, NTCA, Piraisoodan B Director Nameri Tiger Reserve, senior officials of the Assam Forest Department, WII and representatives from various tiger reserves across the Eastern and North-Eastern region.
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A total of 120 participants, including officers and frontline staff are attending the three-day workshop: 74 from Assam, 20 from Arunachal Pradesh, 15 from West Bengal, 5 from Sikkim and 4 from Mizoram.
The workshop aims to build advanced capacity for the AITE-2026 cycle through technical sessions covering field methodology, camera trap deployment protocols, sign surveys, polygon search methods, line transect surveys and standardised data recording using M-STrIPES. Resource persons from NTCA and WII are leading sessions to ensure uniformity and scientific consistency across tiger reserves.
Extensive field exercises inside Nameri Tiger Reserve are also part of the programme, allowing participants to practice camera trap placement, sign verification, habitat assessment and transect walks across varied terrain. During the inaugural event, an illustrated booklet titled “Nameri Tiger Reserve: Land of White-Wings, Roars and Trumpets” was released, highlighting the reserve’s ecological significance, biodiversity richness and ongoing conservation initiatives.
