Symposium on Science & Stewardship to Protect & Sustain Wilderness Values: Session Abstracts Special Session on protecting and restoring socio-ecological systems in the Eastern Himalayas: Manas National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the border between India and Bhutan. Part 1. A Difficult History Names and affiliations: Trishita Shandilya, PG student, Studying Masters in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi Title of presentation/panel/round table discussion: “Women’s perspectives on wilderness and protected areas and struggle to identify their own space in wilderness” Some observations from neighborhood village of Manas National Park of Assam, India Format: Oral presentation ABSTRACT: Women of ecosystem-based traditional societies are usually deprived of their choice and priorities when an ecosystem is pulled into a new policy regime. This study focuses on understanding the values and perceptions that women of fringe villages carry towards a National Park and how their life is influenced by the park. In a patriarchal social structure, women are ascribed to be the nurturer of the family, and in the ecosystem based traditional social milieu, this ascribed role brings the woman folks closer to nature. Collecting vegetables, herbs, fetching water, engaging in developing kitchen/homestead garden, etc. facilitates a constant interaction with nature for women. These interactions create a multifaceted relation of dependency between nature and humans, specifically between woman and nature. This presentation carries the everydayness of women's life living in the fringe area of a National Park and their intimacy with the forest emotionally, socially and economically. Women's regular journey to the forest does not suffice only the material needs, but acts as an emotional support system in their lives. The journey to the forest brings a break from their usual monotonous routines and gives the scope to escape from their ascribed social positioning and discover the self by enjoying the wilderness. In visiting the forest as an all women group, the space acts as the backstage where women share their sufferings and life events while engaging into the performance of ascribed roles in the front stage that is in village social milieu. Thereby, for women in fringe villages, the forest is the space for them to share experiences of being in a hegemonic patriarchal milieu. Names and affiliations: Alolika Sinha Aaranyak (Beltola Tiniali,Guwahati, Assam, India), Dr. Bibhuti P. Lahkar (Beltola Tiniali, Guwahati, Assam, India) Title of presentation/panel/round table discussion: Hog deer never hogged the limelight: understanding the drivers of population density in the Terai grasslands to inform conservation management Format: Oral presentation ABSTRACT: Hog deer (Axis porcinus) is an endangered cervid that underwent a range-wide decline, largely unnoticed. Assam, in northeast India is one of the strongholds of hog deer population in South Asia. Nonetheless, it is also one of the least focused on mammals of the region and its effective conservation strategies hinge on understanding of ecological and anthropogenic correlates. We therefore assessed the current status of hog deer in Assam and investigated the influence of different factors on hog deer population density in one of the high conservation value landscapes- Manas National Park. Manas had an abundant hog deer population prior to armed conflict, but the conflict resulted in a depressed hog deer population. With the cessation of the conflict, conservation measures are implemented, but mostly directed towards the charismatic species. This led to paucity of information on hog deer and its conservation needs remain unaddressed. As precise information on population density and identification of the factors that influence it is crucial to implementing any conservation action; we estimated hog deer density using distance sampling techniques. We used generalised linear modelling technique to test the effect of various habitat and anthropogenic variables. The estimated hog deer density is 18.22 ± 3.32 km-2. Imperata grass and fire occurrence have significant positive affect on hog deer population density, whereas, it is negatively affected by the abundance of invasive plants and Mikania, and human presence. Our results suggest that proper habitat management is of utmost necessity to ensure hog deer conservation. Furthermore, protected areas are crucial for hog deer conservation in the region. Names and affiliations: Sarlongjon Teron (Karbi NRM project, Aaranyak, Assam), Manoshi Goswami (MTCP, Manas Landscape, Aaranyak, Assam), Bipul Das (MTCP, Manas Landscape, Aaranyak, Assam), Silash Basumatary (MTCP, Manas Landscape, Aaranyak, Assam), Jayanta Kumar Sarma (Natural Resource Management and Livelihood, Aaranyak, Guwahati, Assam), Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar (Manas Landscape, Aaranyak, Guwahati, Assam), Mohammad Firoz Ahmed (Aaranyak, Guwahati, Assam) Title of presentation/panel/round table discussion: ‘Journey for Learning’- A Community Based Eco- cultural Tourism Model for Sustainable Livelihoods for Forest Dependent Communities Format: Oral presentation ABSTRACT: Journey for learning’ (JFL) is a self-initiated eco-cultural tourism endeavor by two different indigenous communities of Assam, viz. Karbi and Bodo. The JFL by Karbi community is centered around the Kohora River Basin in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Landscape while that of Bodo community is centered around the Manas National Park in the Indo-Bhutan landscape. Ethnopolitical and armed conflicts for decades on both the sites has led to a poor economy and stressed livelihoods while government livelihood schemes barely touched them. The concept of JFL was developed with local people’s perception of tourism in the area. In both cases, the communities have been deprived of the famous tourism economy of Kaziranga and Manas. The JFL package was developed with learning modules introducing Bio-culturalism and traditional ecological knowledge of communities. It primarily targets postgraduate students and youth around the globe. Following the first experience, the confidence of the hosts increased due to the economic and social benefit gathered from visitors in the form of learning a new language, customs and cultural systems of different guests. The experiences helped in realizing the importance and value of their own culture and social ethos that sensitized their consciences to conserve cultural systems linked to local wilderness and ecosystems. This paper shares the processes and operational modalities of JFL, reflects on the principles of community-based eco- cultural tourism, its impact on people’s economic benefits, livelihood security and on ecosystem restoration through values linked to their socio-cultural practices. Names and affiliations: Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar (Aaranyak), Alolika Sinha (Aaranyak), Anukul Nath (UNESCO C2C - Asia and Pacific Region, Wildlife Institute of India) Title of presentation/panel/round table discussion: Monitoring and control of invasive plant species in grassland ecosystems of Manas World Heritage Site Format: Oral presentation Abstract: Invasive plant species have a devastating impact on sustaining the natural ecosystem for conservation of threatened species. We investigated the distribution pattern of Chromolaena odorata and Mikania micrantha and factors governing their spread in grassland of Manas World Heritage Site. We carried out extensive field sampling and model the distribution of invasives using a suite of algorithms. Model predictions differed with respect to AUC, sensitivity, specificity and TSS range largely in classification performance. Final risk maps were produced averaging the scores of RF and MaxEnt for both species. Proximity to road and human settlement, elevation, fire occurrence and precipitation of driest quarter were the key predictors for both invasives. Since the present probable areas in which invasives are likely to invade indicates that the majority of significant wildlife habitats will be affected and altered in the near future, invasion risk maps can be used as an early detection tool for the management of invasive species, which could help in minimizing the ecological significance and economic cost of invasions. To control the spread of invasives, experimental plots with three different treatments- uprooting of invasive, cutting of invasive and cutting and burning of invasive were set up in the grasslands of Manas. The manual uprooting of invasive was identified as the best method of control. We established a surveillance system and helped in reporting the occurrence of Mimosa spp. for the first time in Manas. Special Session on protecting and restoring socio-ecological systems in the Eastern Himalayas: Manas National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the border between India and Bhutan. Part 2. The Future Names and affiliations: Dr. Dipankar Lahkar (Tiger Research and Conservation Division, Aaranyak, Assam, India), Dr. M Firoz Ahmed (Tiger Research and Conservation Division, Aaranyak, Assam, India), Dr. Ramie H. Begum (Life Science and Bioinformatics, Assam University - Diphu Campus, Assam India), Dr. Abishek Harihar (Panthera, New York, USA) Title of presentation/panel/round table discussion: Tiger recovery in the aftermath of ethno–political conflict in Manas, India Format: Oral presentation ABSTRACT: Manas National Park (MNP) situated in the eastern-Himalayan-biodiversity hotspot experienced armed ethno–political conflict in the late 1980s until 2003.