HT Correspondent
KOKRAJHAR, Oct 26: The 7th edition of the three-day Northeast Butterfly Meet concluded on Wednesday at Raimona National Park (RNP) in Kokrajhar district.
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Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) executive member for Forest & Environment, Ranjit Basumatary inaugurated the programme at the Heritage IB, Kachugaon.
The inaugural programme was also attended by Jiron Basumatary, MLA, Gossaigaon LAC; Dharanidhar Boro, Assam Gaurav recipient; Raju Narzary, general secretary, UPPL and many other dignitaries.
Nearly 100 participants from various states of India including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Assam participated in the event.
A total of 25 students who are pursuing M.Sc in Wildlife Science and research scholars pursuing PhD degrees from Gauhati University, Bodoland University also participated in the event.
Six members from local EDCs were also involved in the programme to initiate butterfly tourism in Raimona National Park in BTR districts.
During the event, participants visited the Pepsu and Ranga Nadi areas of Raimona National Park to observe butterflies.
More than 190 species of butterfly were recorded in Raimona National Park by the participants and experts, out of which some very interesting findings were Brown Onyx, Yerbury Sailer, Yellow Jack Sailer, Common Shot Silverline, Hooked Awlking, and Double-banded Crow and some of them are a new record for NE India (previously known till West Bengal), stated by Dr Monsoon Jyoti Gogoi, an organiser.
Participants also visited the famous Ultapani area of Chirang RF and observed many other important species of butterflies.
The expert from Bhutan, Tshulthrim, also known as the butterfly man of Bhutan attended the event.
He stressed on the need for a transboundary Indo-Bhutan butterfly survey in near future.
Nawang G Bhutia, the butterfly man of Sikkim, declared that the next edition of the Northeast butterfly meet will be held in Sikkim and Butterfly & Moths of Sikkim Nature Conservation Society (BAMOS) will host the event next year.
Roshan Upadhaya, the butterfly man of Arunachal Pradesh, highlighted the tourism potential of the area stressing the need for deployment of more tourist guides besides initiation of jeep safari.
Brojo Kumar Basumatary, one of the organisers, said that the event aims to raise awareness about biodiversity conservation and boost tourism potential in the region.
“After the peace accord Bodoland has become one of the most peaceful regions and the programme will bear the message across the country,” stated Kamal Azad, one of the organisers.
Prof PK Saikia, Prof Malabika Saikia Kakati from Gauhati University; Prof Hilloljyoti Singha, Prof Kushal Choudury from Bodoland University attended the event.
Menom Pertin of SEED, organiser of the Namdapha Butterfly Meet & Punyo Chada of Ngunu Ziro, organiser of the Ziro Butterfly Meet also attended the meet and promised to support the Northeast Butterfly Meet for the coming years.
The event was organised by Butterflies of North-Eastern (NE) India group in collaboration with the government of Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) and NGOs including ATREE, WWF-India, WTI, Aaranyak, SEED, flutters.org, Ngunu Ziro, BECT, BAMOS and Wiki Love Butterflies.
