The eastern Himalayan Arunachal Pradesh is India's biological frontier, where much remains to be explored and described.During our biological expeditions in the high altitudes of western Arunachal Pradesh, we stumbled upon an amazing diversity of life, including the Arunachal macaque, a monkey whose existence was thus far unknown to science.

Arunachal Pradesh is arguably the richest biodiversity region of India. After discovering a unique diversity of wildlife in western Arunachal's high altitudes, we have worked with the local government to establish the first high altitude wildlife reserve of the state.

When a snow leopard kills a domestic yak, the affected family loses money, time, and the numerous goods and services for which it depends on livestock. It is difficult for wildlife to survive when its most important custodians, the local people, bear such high costs of conservation. We are working with several Trans-Himalayan communities to assist in off-setting these costs and promoting the conservation of snow leopards and wolves.

In this program, we are attempting to address conservation needs in the biodiversity hotspot of Arunachal Pradesh by focusing on ways of integrating indigenous people into a range of activities to monitor, value, and conserve wildlife and their habitats. We are presently working in the forests of Namdapha, and have also been monitoring hornbill populations in the Pakke Tiger Reserve.

An expedition into the forests of Namdapha and its surrounding reserve forests in Changlang district confirmed the occurrence of the leaf deer M. putaoensis, a little known diminutive muntjac species first described in 1997 in adjoining northern Myanmar.

The five hornbill species that occur in Arunachal are greatly dependent on threatened primary forests. Hornbills are also important in local tribal heritage, however the market/ritual value of their feathers, beaks, and flesh renders them vulnerable to hunting. 

Molecular genetic analyses provided evidence for the occurrence of two muntjac species, the leaf deer (Muntiacus putaoensis) and the black barking deer (M. crinifrons) from eastern Arunachal Pradesh, two species not known to occur in the Indian subcontinent before.

Hunting patterns and practices among four tribes (Miju Mishmi, Meyor, Nishi and Monpa) in three districts of Arunachal Pradesh were documented during a five-month survey by Ambika Aiyaduraii.

 Namdapha National Park located in the Indo-Myamar biodiversity hotspot encompasses a wide altitudinal range with habitats ranging from lowland evergreen forests to alpine meadows. It harbours unparalled floral and faunal diversity. We acquired satellite imageries of Namdapha and its surrounding landscape to assess changes in forest cover between 1999 and 2005 to establish baselines and understand human impacts on the park.

Wildlife population monitoring is an important component of a conservation program. In the Namdapha National Park, a major threat is hunting: therefore we have focused on establishing its impacts on wildlife populations. The species most affected by hunting –terrestrial mammals– were the target groups for monitoring. We aim to use this research to evaluate the progress of our community-based conservation initiatives: we expect that reduction in hunting will result in recovery of animal populations.

Community welfare is an important component of the conservation program because of the way in which it can affect conservation outcomes. The two priority needs of the Lisu community were better access to formal primary education and health care. We helped set up Kindergarten schools in several villages and have also been providing medical aid since 2003 and put in place a health care program run by a local village youth.