The WaterBlog

A Village Hero: Tinku's Efforts to Sustain Kumarpara's Biodiversity

By Ilja Keukenkamp; Meghna Mukherjee Let’s meet Tinku Karjee- a resident of the Kumarpara village, who has been working as a forest guide for the past 10 years. The Kumarpara region in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal is surrounded by protected forest area and is known for its beauty, serenity and calmness. As a result, it has become a major tourist attraction. Tinku Karjee saw this as an opportunity and took training as a forest guide. In the training, “I learned a lot about the region and its flora and fauna”. During his work as a forest guide, he met a PhD candidate from Germany who had come to the Kumarpara region  to study butterflies in the forest. Tinku became his personal guide for the study, and through him, got passionate and gained knowledge about butterflies and birds. Even after the student left, Tinku continued his work to protect butterflies and has dedicated his life to the well-being of the insect/butterfly population… Continued