GUWAHATI, Oct 15 � With the Puja rush and season for holidays, Manas National Park is planning to make the most of it by gearing up in advance.
In this connection, a nature guide training was held for 65 local village youth in a joint initiative under the Manas Tiger Conservation Foundation along with NGO support from ATREE, WWF-India, Aaranyak, WTI, Manas Ever welfare Society, Saving Tigers and Manas Jeep Safari Association.
The curriculum involved rigourous sessions on basics of nature guide training and tourism including bird-watching, animal tracks and signs, butterfly identification, language and social etiquettes, first aid in forest areas, tourism entrepreneurship, indigenous culture and tradition, and legal provisions relevant for conducting eco-tourism in a National Park.
A comprehensive training kit including books such as Birds of Manas National Park by Dr Anwaruddin Choudhury, Swallowtail Butterflies of Manas Biosphere by Dr. Kushal Choudhury, Common and Scientific Names of Flora of Assam by Dr Ananta Bora and Vanyaprani Surakhyar Aini by Bhupen Talukdar along with equipment was also provided.
Manas will be formally opened for visitors on October 18, 2014.