Announcing the achievement in their Facebook page, the Trust said, “Wild elephants have reclaimed their space that the villagers of Ram Terang had made for them through voluntarily relocating out of the corridor. Five years of hard work has resulted in a safe passage for these elephants and a better life for the 19 families that once lived here.”
The villagers are now settled in the New Ram Terang village.
The conservation project was led by Elephant Family (EF) and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) with support from Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC), Karbi Anglong Forest Department and IUCN-NL.
According to WTI, the villagers voluntarily dismantled their original houses to give free passage to the wild elephants of Kalapahar –Doigurung landscape and shifted to EF-WTI designed new village located away from the elephant corridor.
Apart from 19 new houses, the villagers have been provided 76 bighas of land for agriculture, tree cultivation, organic fishery, drinking water facility, weaving centre and other green livelihood support, said WTI.