Arunachal Pradesh has good news for bird lovers. It is the story of tribals joining hands to save an endangered bird through creating a community reserve. The Bugun tribal population in Singchung village joined together with the forest department to provide a safe habitat for critically endangered bird Bugun liocichla.
Only 20 pairs of olive green Bugun liocichla are found in this world. And all of them live in an around Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary.
The community reserve is near to Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary. The efforts for creating a community habitat started in 2013 when the divisional forest officer Millo Tasser first discussed with the tribals of a reserve in Singchung village. However, the tribals in the beginning were quite apprehensive. They feared of losing their land.
Nature lover Ramana Athreya was the first to spot Bugun liocichla in 1995. He named the bird after the tribe in 2006. Though Athreyah tried to set up a habitat for the endangered olive green bird, he did not get support from the tribal population. The tribals at last conceded to set up the community sanctuary after marathon of discussions. Though hard to convince the tribe, the environmentalists and officials were able to convince the need of protecting the bird named after them.
