Residents of Lokpeng in the Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh have started a community-led wildlife conservation initiative to protect their ancestral woodlands. The village council, organized under the Lokpeng Welfare Society, formed this inviolable biodiversity zone after seeing fewer native arboreal animals.
This new protection effort relies entirely on
customary tribal laws and social oversight instead of government policing. The local rules
strictly prohibit logging, commercial timber collection, and seasonal hunting inside the demarcated forest boundaries, with heavy penalties for anyone who breaks them.
The protected habitat acts as an important corridor for vulnerable animals like the
marbled cat, slow lorises, and various species of hornbills. Local youth squads perform
routine voluntary foot patrols along ridge routes and water streams to keep the area safe.
