Bano Haralu

In October 2012, a 47-year-old journalist turned environmentalist Bano Haralu led a small group of conservationists at Doyang Reservoir to check whether the rumor of a large-scale bird hunt was true.

What they saw on that October day shook them. Amur’s falcons had been slaughtered for meat and for sale in markets throughout the state. By the end of the day, the scale and cruelty of the massacre they witnessed had stunned them.

Following this, Bano and his team partnered with the Nagaland government and local communities to launch the “Friends of the Amur Falcon” campaign to make falcons a source of pride for the community. Experts were invited to work with local governments and local communities to find solutions to the conservation crisis. Regular ground patrols have been set up at the roosting sites in forests, as well as frequent checks on local markets.