It was also meant to encourage them to take up the guardianship of this global heritage.
The Buguns are among the smallest tribes of Arunachal Pradesh – the bird and its conservation has focused the international spotlight on them.
As a result, the bird has become very much a (proud) part of their identity: from conservation to vaccination; from the football club to the State Government.
In a remarkably generous gesture, the Buguns declared 17 km2 of their community forest as a legally protected reserve to safeguard the habitat of the Liocichla and the vast range of diversity that shares it home.
