Goodbye uncle Tsilie Sakhrie

Kalpavriksh mourns the passing away of an inspiring elder, Tsilie Sakhrie, respected Angami community leader of Khonoma Village, Nagaland. Uncle Tsilie, as he was fondly called, was the founder of one of India’s most innovative community-led conservation initiatives to protect endangered Blyth’s tragopan (a pheasant) by declaring the Khonoma Nature Conservation & Tragopan Sanctuary (KNCTS), and at the centre of many other transformations making this village one of the state’s most well-known and respected (cleanliness, livelihood security, crafts, etc). At  Kalpavriksh  we got to know him in early 2000s, visited Khonoma several times (during which we enjoyed his and his family’s loving hospitality), helped promote community conserved areas in Nagaland, and cited the KNCTS example worldwide to inspire others. Tsilie along with Mhiesizokhi Zinyu, Adviser, KNCTS, also honoured two of our members in recognition of our support to their efforts, on a visit in 2014. A wonderful man, a pioneer, an innovator, a wise elder, is gone … but of course, lives on as an inspiration. We would like to offer our deepest condolences to his family, and to the village of Khonoma, and we commit to continue standing by and espousing the principles of co-existence that he lived.