After Cyclone AILA has hit the Bay of Bengal last week and devastated the Sunderbans Biosphere region, ACT has started immediate emergency action to support victims. In cooperation with Help Tourism, The Blue Yonder and Travel to Care a Aila2009 Support Group was initiated to spread information and to raise funds.
A special website has been set up by Responsible Tourism Network India - please visit for regular updates and further information: http://rtnetworking.org/aila/update.htm

Red Panda Stars In 15-minute Film

The shy and reclusive red panda faces the camera once again, having won 11 international awards in its very first screen appearance.

This time, the endangered species will appear in a yet-to-be-named short film by the Association for Conservation and Tourism (ACT) that aims to showcase north Bengal and Sikkim’s rare asset in front of a global audience.

“Our film is about the community’s role in red panda conservation,” Ajoy Roy, the director, said about the film, which is in the post-production stage. “ACT is promoting the region surrounding the red panda habitat as a separate tourism circuit. The aim is to help the local people find alternative revenue-generation sources so that they are motivated in conserving the habitat.”

About four years ago, the Bedi twins — Ajay and Vijay — were the first to make a documentary film, Cherub of the Mist, on the red pandas of the region. The film was aired on Animal Planet and created history of sorts by bagging 11 international awards, including the Green Oscar.

Roy has shot the docile, cuddly animal at the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling, which runs Asia’s only red panda conservation project through captive breeding. Over the years, several zoo-bred red pandas have been released into the wild.

The 15-minute film will be screened worldwide, Roy said, after it is premiered at Hee in West Sikkim, where parts of it were shot. The film also focuses on the other two major red panda habitats: Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary and Neora Valley National Park.

“The relationship between the community and the animal — be it the way they are taken care of at the zoo or the way people have made small ‘homes’ on trees for the red pandas — is the main highlight of the film,” Roy said.

“We will distribute DVDs of our film at the annual Banga Sammelan that will be held in Canada in July,” the film-maker said. “We will also give copies to NGOs and tourism agencies all over India so that we are able to reach out to a lot of people.”

by Anuradha Sharma - The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) - 23. April 2008
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080423/jsp/siliguri/story_9156288.jsp

SHAN International Camp 2008 In Hee-Bermiok Sikkim

SHAN, the Sikkim Heritage Adventure Nature International Camp 2008 is being held in May 2008. The first camp will take place from 06th to 11th May, 2008, the second camp from 12th to 17th May.

It is being organized in coincidence with the only ‘Heritage Festival’ of East Himalaya. The venue being dominated by the adjoining Barshey Rhododendron Sanctuary and the Limboo community, this is a phantastic opportunity for authentic local natural and cultural experience. The stunning views of the Mt.Khangchendzonga range are more than an add-on. The season kisses the arrival of the monsoon, making the local people happy during their sowing of their favourite crop, rice.

The participants will be introduced to Himalayan Nature & Environment, Adventure activities, Cultural diversity of the Sikkim Himalaya & Local livelihood orientation.

The festival is jointly organized by Help Tourism and Hee-Bermiok Tourism Development and Heritage Conservation Society, and supported by: ACT-Association for Conservation and Tourism and Chautare.

Download the SHAN Festival Poster plus Information (1,3 MB, pdf)

Creating Community Forest Reserves Around Neora Valley Nationalpark

Kolbung (Kalimpong), Aug. 12: This tiny village 11 kms off Lava, which is about 35 kms from Kalimpong, is a purely vegetarian one. None of its 300-odd residents -- all of whom belong to the Rai community -- eat meat, nor do their children kill birds. 
Appropriately then, it is from here the Siliguri-based Association for Conservation of Tourism (ACT) today launched its campaign to seek conservation reserve status to the forests of the area that is rich in avian fauna. 
At a simple function on the small ground of the Kolbung Primary School , villagers were handed 500 saplings of trees, which they later planted in the deforested parts of the jungle surrounding the village. The entire Neora Valley and adjoining areas are considered to be the last forest frontier of the region. 
The forests of Pankashari-Lava-Algarah are contiguous to the protected forests of the Neora Valley National Park (NVNP). The endeavour of the NGO is to ensure its continuity. "During the last meeting of the Wildlife Board in Calcutta in early June, a proposal to create a conservation reserve in the forests adjoining the national park was agreed upon," said Raj Basu, president of ACT. 
The idea, Basu explained, was to ensure the participation of the local people in the conservation programme by directly involving them in the management of the protected forests. "The only way the locals of these villages can earn their livelihood is through conservation and tourism. We must make conservation a business for the locals," he added. 
The locals, on their part, were a very enthusiastic lot. "What we must ask is not what nature has given us, but what we can give to nature," said the boyish-looking Durga Rai, senior teacher of the primary school. He said tourism could flourish in the area only if people take to conservation seriously.
Citing the example of Sikkim , ACT member Jashoda Chettri, said her state has shown how development and conservation could be carried out simultaneously. "Despite so much of development activities taking place in Sikkim , the forest cover in the state has increased by two per cent," she said.  
Indira Rai, local community leader, said the villagers should take a leaf from their forefathers who by virtue of their being vegetarians ensured the preservation of the rich fauna of the area.