70 J’khand foresters to get training at Similipal reserve

Bhubaneswar: The Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) will offer exposure training to at least 70 foresters from Jharkhand next month.
The neighbouring state has urged the authorities in Simlipal to expose the foresters to multiple skills of habitat management, trekking with special tiger protection force, managing eco-tourism, anti-poaching exercise, tiger census and trekking with the help of technology.
“The foresters from Jharkhand will learn skills that the forest personnel in the reserve experience on a daily basis. Similipal boasts of having a unique topography with high terrain and plain land. It has a robust prey base and meadow,” deputy director (Similipal north) Sai Kiran said, adding, “Five eco-tourism sites are witnessing massive footfall and they are managed by eco-development committee members, consisting of locals from nearby villages. So, the guest forest personnel will programme their activities here for a week with the regular staff of Similipal and go back home with a lot of knowledge and experience.”
The guest forest personnel are likely to be taken to Kabatghai inside the sanctuary that was vacated by villagers to ensure an inviolate space. The village’s empty space is now being used to develop a meadow. So, the guest personnel will learn how to develop a meadow. Later, they might trek with the anti-poaching squad for an entire day, officials said.
Recently, trainee foresters from Nicholson Forest Training School came to STR to learn the multiple skills required to check wildlife crimes and run eco-tourism facilities.
A team of forest personnel from Gujarat is also likely to visit Similipal for an exposure visit, but the date is yet to be finalised.
In order to encourage young wildlife and nature enthusiasts, the STR authorities had launched a nature trail and a day with a forester programme last month.