Football unites youth in Manipur's Naga-dominated district to save, not hunt pangolins

Guwahati: For many elderly in Manipur's Naga-dominated Senapati district, hunting used to be a popular game. This resulted in rampant killing of precious wildlife in the district and even smuggling through the border with Myanmar.

On Tuesday, however, many youths in the Naga-dominated district took to football, another popular game, with messages to protect Chinese pangolins, a critically endangered wildlife and the most trafficked wildlife species worldwide.

At least 16 teams are vying for the first ever Pangolin Cup, a football tournament being played between March 17 and 22 with an aim to engage more and more youth in creating awareness against trafficking of pangolins.

The tournament is part of a project, "Countering Pangolin Trafficking," being implemented by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) with the help of forest departments and other stakeholders in Manipur and Nagaland.

The project is supported by the Pangolin Crisis Fund under the Wildlife Conservation Network.

"Unite for football, stand for pangolins" is our slogan. Our efforts are to encourage local communities to become active stakeholders in wildlife protection while strengthening their connection with nature and their surroundings. The involvement of the young people and the civil society organisations is very important as they enjoy respect and influence in the local society," the WTI said on Tuesday.

The WTI said 900 high school students from Senapati and representatives of at least 10 civil society bodies representing various communities in the district participated in the inaugural event on Tuesday. "Our awareness efforts include placing informative banners around the playground, delivering insights on the species' significance and conservation needs through officials, and distributing pamphlets containing facts about pangolins to all attendees. Also officials, civil body representatives, and students were felicitated to instill a sense of responsibility and importance toward conservation, the WTI statement further said.

Pangolins have high demand in Southeast Asian markets for use of the scales and meat for preparing traditional medicines and others. Senapati is considered as a vital transit route as it shares the porous border with Myanmar, the gateway of Southeast Asian nations. The WTI said although there is no recorded population status of the species in Northeast India, it was observed that their numbers are rapidly declining due to rampant hunting and illegal trade.

Mamoni Doley, DC, Senapati said the civil society has an important role to set examples to stop hunting and preserve the wildlife. "If we treat hunting as a sport, they will follow suit. This is why collective action of the CSOs as leaders and students as changemakers is a must."