Sep

Elephant Cup 2025 kicks off in D’Ering – Dibru Saikhowa elephant corridor landscape

Arunachal Pradesh, 25^th September 2025: To celebrate the Solung festival, the third edition of the Elephant Cup Football Tournament was organised by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), supported by World Land Trust (WLT), in the D’Ering- Dibru Saikhowa elephant corridor project landscape from September 22 to 25 . Solung is a local festival of the Adi tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, which is celebrated for prosperity, fertility, protection and thanksgiving after the sowing season. The festivities are marked by people gathering together to celebrate the festival with a series of rituals performances.

The football tournament was conducted with teams from Mer, Namsing and Paglam villages to bring people together by linking the celebration of a local festival with the spirit of sportsmanship directed to the cause of wildlife conservation.

This year, the tournament kicked off at Mer village and the event was inaugurated by the newly appointed head of the village council of Mer village with a ceremony of the ball kick-off. The Mer football team won the final match against Namsing. The tournament brought together enthusiastic local youth, cheered on by the community, making it not just a sporting event but also a platform to raise awareness and reach out to people on the importance of wildlife conservation and the role of community stewardship in protecting our nature.

Mer and Namsing Football teams gearing up for the match | Photograph by Dindi Padi/WTI

By linking wildlife conservation to cultural celebrations, the DDS project aspires to bring forth avenues for dialogue and participation by the local community in community-led conservation actions. The tournament stands as a celebration to appreciate the efforts of our true champions, which is the Kotgah Community Reserve Society (KCRS) and local communities who have set aside their land to secure the D’Ering-Dibru Saikhowa elephant corridor. The project is a model of collaborative conservation, securing vital wildlife passage while supporting local communities. Through habitat restoration, conflict mitigation, and community-led initiatives, the project ensures safe movement for elephants and promotes coexistence. It highlights how inclusive, grassroots efforts can effectively protect biodiversity and sustain ecological balance in shared landscapes.