Rangers from Orang National Park in Assam honoured with highly-coveted international award

Bringing laurels to Assam, rangers of the Orang National Park and Tiger Reserve have been awarded at the second International Ranger Awards, presented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA). The awards were announced in a ceremony at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) African Protected Areas Congress in Kigali, Rwanda.

Orang, covering an area of 79.28 km², is located on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River in the Darrang and Sonitpur districts of Assam.

Lauding the rangers from Orang National Park, the IUCN release said that "their efforts have led to significant decreases in poaching of tigers and rhinos."

As per the ‘All India Tiger’ estimate in 2018, Orang is home to 21 tigers. Greater one-horned rhinos are also thriving in the park, which is home to at least 100 rhinos. Because of the park’s success with rhinos, it also been given the mokiner of ‘Little Kaziranga.’

Wildlife, including water buffalo, elephants, and tigers in addition to rhinos, have flourished in the park. Three rivers border the park and join the Brahmaputra, creating a vital flood plain biodiversity hotspot.

"The team has demonstrated considerable skill, courage and perseverance in addressing the impacts of tigers straying from the reserve into local communities, endangering people and their livestock. They have been successful in both capturing and relocating straying tigers, and in securing the cooperation and confidence of affected communities," it added.

“The world’s rangers are the unsung heroes and heroines of conservation,” said Dr Madhu Rao, Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, lauding the winners.

“Alongside their extraordinary stories of courage and commitment, what is remarkable about this year’s winners is their diversity,” said Chris Galliers, the President of the International Ranger Federation.

Altogether, seven individual rangers and three ranger teams from ten countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Australasia were recognized for going beyond the call of duty to protect the earth’s wild places and wildlife.