Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary in West Bengal promotes eco-tourism

SUKNA - The officials of the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary in Sukna near West Bengal’s Siliguri District have involved the local villagers in protecting the wildlife and the bio-diversity of the sanctuary.

Divisional Forest Officer of the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary Tapas Das said that eco- tourism would enable the villagers to make themselves economically stable.

“See what we are doing here is we are trying to conserve the bio-diversity and protect the wildlife by way of this kind of eco-tourism. We are trying to make the villagers economically sustainable,” said Das.

“They can earn something from this, and as a result what happens they get interested and they protect the wildlife as far as the bio-diversity of the national park and the sanctuaries,” he added.

Villagers have been enrolled to participate in the project as guides and local girls will display their talent by presenting dance and vocal music for tourists.

The area is replete with wild life such as spotted deer; elephants, bisons, birds and butterflies which could be a great tourist attraction.

Villagers say they are happy with the initiative of including them in uplifting their economic status as well as promoting their culture and tradition.

“All the tourists who will visit, we will be able to interact with them and have a direct interaction with them. They will understand our culture and tradition. We want to promote our culture and tradition through this. And with the eco-tourism our culture and tradition will be able to move forward,” said Karan Thapa, a forest villager.

Some other exotic animals seen in the sanctuary are Royal Bengal Tiger, Himalayan black bear, rare mountain goat (Serow), porcupines and snakes. by Tarak Sarkar(ANI)