Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav today shared a video on X of a hoolock gibbon using canopy bridge to cross a railway track in Assam, and described it as a watershed moment in gibbon conservation in the country.
He captioned the post as “Innovation-led conservation!”, and wrote, “Good to see that mitigation measure such as this canopy bridge made over a railway passing through Assam has started being used by hoolock gibbon.This shows science-led small-scale efforts can also be of great help in biodiversity conservation.”
The railway line shown in the video traverses the Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in Assam’s Jorhat district, which is home to an estimated 125 rare hoolock gibbons, the only ape found in India.
“This marks a watershed moment in gibbon conservation in India. The canopy bridges were designed and installed as a mitigation measure, jointly by the Assam Forest Department and the Wildlife Institute of India with the advice and guidance of the MoEFCC,” the Minister added.
These canopy bridges facilitate easy movement of the arboreal species between the two halves of the sanctuary partitioned by the Mariani-Dibrugarh railway track.
