HIGHLIGHTS OF 2018 OF BALIPARA FOUNDATION 2018 has been a step ahead towards the 11th year of Balipara Foundation. With great honour and delight, Balipara Foundation takes the opportunity to share an overview of the year 2018- a tremendous year making a meaningful difference in the lives of the people, the communities that we serve and our majestic biodiversity which remains as the cornerstone of the enduring Foundation’s commitment towards the Rural Futures in the Eastern Himalayas. With the principle of NaturenomicsTM and Rural Futures, the journey has been of constantly seeking to explore innovative conservation models and towards uplifting socio-economic mobility through habitat restoration and other ecosystem services in forest-fringe communities of the Eastern Himalayas. We are extremely proud of the decade of the experimentation in various aspects of conservation which has led to the following in 2018- increase in community participation, employment through ecosystem-based services, development of stewardship behaviour within the forest-fringe communities and propagating indigenous knowledge. All our efforts are brought to fruition through an interdisciplinary team of over 50 people who have passionately contributed to building this organization since 2007.
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SUMMARISING 2018
Training & Workshops 30+ Workshops conducted for the welfare of the communities
Environment 2.79L saplings planted in Bhairabkunda Forest Reserve 41764 saplings planted at Eastern Himalayan Botanic Ark 103 new species planted at Eastern Himalayan Botanic Ark 3416 saplings donated to villages, schools and Forest Department Our contribution to Nature Conservancy till date: Saplings Planted-3,62,327, Species-324
Mindful Tourism
Livelihoods
3 Community Homestays launched in Nyishi, Garo and Mishing Village in Sonitpur District in Assam
Empowerment of women and supporting education of children by donating 200 solar in support of MASK
Elephant Country Camp launched in Bhairabkund Reserve Forest: Hosted 547 visitors from 3 countries
Generating direct employment for 100+ local individuals through social enterprise Eastern Himalayan Botanic Ark in residence at Wild Mahseer
Eastern Himalayan Botanic Ark in residence at Wild Mahseer recognised as number 1 Nature destination in India by vogue magazine
Community development Elephant Country store launched at Eastern Himalayan Botanic Ark
Advisory Council Meet
Partnerships
Advisory Council Meeting revolved around ‘creating opportunities’ that would lead to a nature bank for the people of the communities and creation of a vision document
Partnerships with Indraprastha College for Women, India China Climate Change Centre, RED++ Working Group, Mountain Partnership, Earth University, Navdanya
Volunteering Programs
Knowledge & Publications
11 students engaged in a volunteering program on Livelihood, Sustainability and Conservation with Balipara Foundation from 7 countries
Launched Progress & Impact TM Report 2017, Naturenomics 7.0 “The League of Earth Heroes”, “The Himalayan”, In partnership with Sanctuary Asia and Forest Department of Assam, launched “The Sanctuary Nature Guide to Nameri” and “Handbook on Biodiversity of Eastern Himalayan Botanic Ark”
Events & Programs Seminar on Universal Basic Income in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences Eastern Himalayan TM Naturenomics Forum 2018 bought together 600 participants from 14 countries Balipara Foundation Awards awarded 16 earth heroes from the Eastern Himalayas
Technology & Conservation Launched application- Orchids of Eastern Himalayas
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Communications
Website Cumulative across all platforms – Pageviews – 259,633, Users- 80,332, Sessions-100,664 Social Media Cumulative across all platforms - 21,348 Followers, Reach-2,016,992 Engagement-134,139 Twitter
Tweet Impressions – 62,192 Profile Visits – 3,719
YouTube
27, 029 Minutes watched 9,949 Views V/s 7,866 Views No. of Videos – 120
Instagram Cumulative across all platforms– Impressions–51,381, Reach–37,739, Engagement – 4,144 Newsletters
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Launch of Balipara Foundation and the Eastern Himalayan Naturenomics Forum Newsletters (Volume 1-7) Newsletters have an open rate of 41% higher than the sector average of 19% and 1100 subscribers across all platforms
Live Coverage
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The Eastern Himalayan Naturenomics Forum was covered live by Jio over two days and has reached 250 million subscribers The two-day event was also beamed live on the Balipara Foundation Facebook page
Media Coverage
Recognized by India’s No. 1 current affairs magazine, India Today in both print and digital media
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Thank You to all our Supporters
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PLANS 2019
As an evolving organisation, Balipara Foundation in the next year ‘2019’ and for the coming years has in its store determined and aspiring plans towards the Rural Futures and the Eastern Himalayas. Some of our plans include
Plant over 3 lakh trees in Balipara County
Organize over 12 skill building workshops for the forest-fringe communities
Generate employment opportunities of INR 35 Lakhs+ for the forest-fringe communities
Provide safe habitat to over 500 elephants that pass through the Balipara reserve forest
The “Elephant Country Camp” Tourism Model will be expanded to cover 3 more camp sites and 2 home stays
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Naturenomics
School to collaborate with Earth University, Navdanya Biodiversity Conservation Farm
in Doon valley
Environmental awareness to 5000 participants through Eastern Himalayan Naturenomics
Outreach awareness programmes to be conducted in community villages, schools and colleges (Target population – 2000)
Extended nature trails to Jia Bharali riverside and through the tea gardens to be initiated
To take conversation to grassroots level for impactful conservation, Regional Forum in the Eastern Himalayas will be hosted
Eastern Himalayan Naturenomics
Publish Naturenomics
Partner with traditional and digital media platforms to promote the Foundation, new developments, workshops, programmes and annual event
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Forum 2019 will be held on 5 & 6 November 2019
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All these efforts would have been impossible without the unstinting support of our Communities, Partners, Stakeholders and our team who have continued to energise our efforts.
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