Meet the Team
Pema Wange
WWF-India is working with the villagers of Tawang and West Kameng districts in Western Arunachal for the conservation of forests and wildlife. The forest areas here are owned by the Monpas, an indigenous community. Encouraged by WWF-India, the Thembang village panchayat adopted a resolution in 2004 and issued a notification declaring parts of the forest area under their ownership as a Community Conserved Area (CCA).
Pema Wange, Project Officer with WWF-India’s Western Arunachal Landscape Programme (WAL) has been actively involved in the CCA project. His work includes assisting the WWF-India team in community mobilisation, coordination with government officials, livelihood intervention and monitoring of project implementation. His thorough knowledge of the area has benefited WWF-India in implementation of other projects like Red Panda Conservation and High Altitude Wetland Conservation. Recently, he has been also helping North Bank Landscape and Kaziranga Karbi Anglong Landscape in developing strategies and implementing community based conservation of elephant corridors.
Pema, whose full name is Bapu Pema Wange Sharchhokpa, is the son of a farmer from Thembang village of West Kameng district in Arunachal Pradesh. Though he started his career in a BPO company in far away Bangalore city, the start of WWF-India’s community based conservation programme in western Arunachal Pradesh, in 2007, provided him an opportunity to return to Thembang and work for it.
Pijush Dutta, Senior Coordinator, WAL recounts, “After the approval of the CCA Project, we were looking for some dedicated local youth to join our team to help us implement the project and after I talked to him over telephone, he agreed to leave his lucrative job at Bangalore and join us in the field.”
Pema feels that working with local villagers on the CCA project has given him the chance to work on issues that were always close to his heart. He says, “Since my childhood I have been a witness to the beauty of village life, the nature and wildlife and its close association with each other. I would wonder how these could remain intact in a fast changing and globalising world. Working here gives me immense pleasure as we are trying to address lots of such issues.”
Pijush concludes, “His knowledge about the area, community and their psychology has helped WWF-India in implementing the project effectively in the area. His eagerness to learn more about solutions to address various conservation issues of the area has helped him to develop expertise in the field and for the conservation of the rich biodiversity of Arunachal Pradesh. We need more local youth to follow him as an example.”
Pema Wange, Project Officer with WWF-India’s Western Arunachal Landscape Programme (WAL) has been actively involved in the CCA project. His work includes assisting the WWF-India team in community mobilisation, coordination with government officials, livelihood intervention and monitoring of project implementation. His thorough knowledge of the area has benefited WWF-India in implementation of other projects like Red Panda Conservation and High Altitude Wetland Conservation. Recently, he has been also helping North Bank Landscape and Kaziranga Karbi Anglong Landscape in developing strategies and implementing community based conservation of elephant corridors.
Pema, whose full name is Bapu Pema Wange Sharchhokpa, is the son of a farmer from Thembang village of West Kameng district in Arunachal Pradesh. Though he started his career in a BPO company in far away Bangalore city, the start of WWF-India’s community based conservation programme in western Arunachal Pradesh, in 2007, provided him an opportunity to return to Thembang and work for it.
Pijush Dutta, Senior Coordinator, WAL recounts, “After the approval of the CCA Project, we were looking for some dedicated local youth to join our team to help us implement the project and after I talked to him over telephone, he agreed to leave his lucrative job at Bangalore and join us in the field.”
Pema feels that working with local villagers on the CCA project has given him the chance to work on issues that were always close to his heart. He says, “Since my childhood I have been a witness to the beauty of village life, the nature and wildlife and its close association with each other. I would wonder how these could remain intact in a fast changing and globalising world. Working here gives me immense pleasure as we are trying to address lots of such issues.”
Pijush concludes, “His knowledge about the area, community and their psychology has helped WWF-India in implementing the project effectively in the area. His eagerness to learn more about solutions to address various conservation issues of the area has helped him to develop expertise in the field and for the conservation of the rich biodiversity of Arunachal Pradesh. We need more local youth to follow him as an example.”
Pema Wange