IDU-MISHMI WILDERNESS COURSE
20th to 27th, Dec 2025
(applications will open in June)
Overview
There are plenty of nature camps for youth, scores of nature safaris, and even some nature guide training courses. But where do you go if you just want to learn about forests, rivers, trees, fungi, birds, wild animals - life itself. There are even fewer opportunities to learn from the world’s Indigenous communities who have ancestral knowledge about nature. We are offering a unique course that combines scientific and Indigenous local knowledge for anyone interested in learning about nature. It is deliberately slow, reflective, and immersive. It trains your senses to be attuned to all that lives around you.
Our ideology:
The power of being “here & now”: Being present when in the wild; being with a pen and a notebook instead of a camera, allows you to slow down and learn how to look at & listen to the forest; feel, smell & taste its elements. When outdoors, we prioritize looking at the forest through our own observations over information-based learning. This develops a deeper connection to nature.
3 Rs: Respect, Reciprocity and Responsibility: We respect the traditions and knowledge systems of the ancestral guardians of forests. Our learning should be reciprocal - we don’t just take, we also give something back. We fulfill our collective responsibility towards each other and other beings.
Equity: We value the need to balance traditional, Indigenous, local knowledge with Western, scientific knowledge. Storytelling is a key part of this course’s methodology.
What will you learn?
A great part of the course will focus on learning about the ecosystems of the Eastern Himalaya, its incredible wildlife and people, and their out-of-the box approach to conservation. The course will cover basics of the natural history of birds and mammals; developing field observation and learning skills.
The forest is the best classroom, but this course has both a taught and an experiential component. You will learn the basics of natural history (birds and mammals), about the biodiversity of this forest, and the eco-social history of the landscape in indoor sessions.
Once in the forest, you will learn about all forms of life - mammals, birds, fish, plants, fungi, and so on - as we encounter them. You will practise how to be in the “here and now” to observe wildlife. You will learn how to identify species and read footprints, sounds and behaviour. It’s not a course that focuses on memorising names of every creature you see but you will organically learn some of that too. You focus on uncovering ‘what is a bird’ as opposed to ‘what is the name of that bird’.
Through daily storytelling, you will learn the history of the land, Idu Mishmi stories of animals and plants, how the Idu people interact with the forest, and the equitable and innovative ways in which local communities are protecting their bio-cultural heritage.
Learn to be a citizen scientist.
Finally, you will receive a certificate from Nature Guides Academy when you complete this course, something to show off :)
Quick FAQ’s
Who is this course for?
Any adults aged 18 years and above who are interested in learning about nature and natural history. You must be in reasonably good health to hike and camp in tough mountain terrain for 4-5 days. This isn’t a nature guide training course and open to people from any background.
What does the cost include?
Accommodation, 3 simple local meals (vegetarian and non-vegetarian), internal travel (including airport pick-up and drop-off to Dibrugarh airport or Tinsukia train station), the team of guides and mentors and all the learning activities and tools- indoor and outdoors. The cost also includes a 25% contribution to the local community towards their conservation and well-being initiatives in EECEP (Reciprocity).
Where is the course location?
The course is based out of 2 locations in the Lower Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh- 1) Roing and 2) EECEP, a Community Conservation Area (CCA). The majority of the course will take place in forests, rivers and grasslands.
Will I have connectivity?
Yes, Airtel works in parts of the area. However, overall, the connectivity is quite poor.
How do I get there?
Depending on where you are coming from- the closest airport is Dibrugarh & the closest railway station is Tinsukia. Your transport from any of these locations to the training base and back is included in the trip cost. We will coordinate with you regarding the flights so everyone arrives at more or less the same time and can share the pick up and drop off arranged.
What does the broad itinerary look like?
Day 1: Roing
Arrival Day
Arrive in Dibrugarh/Tinsukhia and transfer to Roing. Meet the team and your fellow learners over a relaxed evening followed by dinner and sleep to the sounds of the Eje river.
Day 2: Roing
The Beginning
Through a mix of indoor and outdoor learning, we will spend our time getting to know about the landscape, EECEP and the Idu Mishmis. Classroom sessions will focus on the natural history of birds and mammals. This will be followed by nature walks and journaling.
Day 3: EECEP
Meeting the forest
Early departure for a one hour drive to the EECEP. The day will be spent with a mix of field sessions and interactions with community elders and mentors.
Be ready for an hour-long walk on the dry riverbed of Ishi-afra. We will be looking for tracks and signs of animals and listening out for gibbon songs. Later we will have another 3-hour hike of observations through lowland tropical forests to Elopa plateau (850 masl) in the heart of EECEP where we will camp for the night. Settle in before we gather for campfire storytelling, reflections and discussions of everything we saw.
Day 4: EECEP
Collection day- scientific, traditional and digital
This morning will start with the sound mapping of gibbons- a scientific way of collecting data.
During the day we will learn about mammal behaviour through a combination of camera trapping and traditional Idu trapping.
Using Citizen Science apps we will learn how each of us can collect and contribute scientific data in our daily lives.
Day 5: EECEP
Cliffs and rivers
Early morning, hike 30 mins to the edge of the plateau for the chance to see Himalayan serow at a salt lick, if we are in luck. After a picnic breakfast, we will do a 3 hour learning walk down to Chembosa camp.
Walk to the banks of Talõ (Dibang) River, spend the afternoon exploring riverine ecology and grasslands.
Campfire storytelling, reflections and discussions of learnings of the day.
Day 6: Roing
Closing
After breakfast and camp site birding we drive to a village for an Idu lunch before making our way back to Roing.
We will have our last evening closing and de-briefing session in Roing followed by dinner with EECEP’s elders.
Day 7: Roing
Departure
Breakfast and depart for Dibrugarh/Tinsukhia.
What will the accommodation be like?
Accommodation will be on a sharing basis. 3 nights in Roing will be in a local resort owned by a community elder. It is a basic level accommodation with rooms with attached toilets. 3 nights will be camping in tents in the community conserved forest with shared toilets.
What will the weather be like?
In min-Jan, we expect cold nights and clear, sunny days. Good warm clothing with multiple layers will be required. We can provide sleeping bags for tents but encourage you to bring your own. Daily temperature will range from 7C to 23C.
We will help you with a packing list once you register.
Where can I learn more about the team of mentors for this course?
The mentor team is big! It includes elders as well as youngsters from the Idu Mishmi community, a scientist-anthropologist and researchers from the community as well as mentors from Nature Guides Academy- you can learn about them at Dibang Team & Nature Guides Academy respectively.
What kind of activities are we going to do?
We are going to have a mix of indoor and outdoor sessions.
Outdoor sessions will include interpreted nature walks and hikes( ranging from 30mins to 3 hours), some jungle driving, nature journaling, setting up camera traps and traditional Idu traps, sound mapping and much more!
Indoor sessions will include presentations on natural history taxa like birds and mammals, campfire tales and lessons from our friends from the community as well as interpretation of the current ecology from our in-house scientist.
What languages do I need to know to be a part of this course?
All these interactions and interpretations will be in Hindi & English.
What do I need to pack?
Warm beanie cap
Scarf/muffler/fleece buff
Cap/hat for the sun
A pair of thermal base layer
A few T-shirts
Fleece jacket
Warm (down) jacket
Outdoor/hiking pants
Fleece lined pants for the evenings (depending on how cold you usually feel)
Warm socks for evenings
Slip no shoes/crocs for time in camp
Good hiking shoes and socks
Rain coat/umbrella
Warm sleep wear
Personal sleeping bag and/or liners (if you want)
Binoculars
Camera (if you want)
Notebook & pen
Water bottle
Mug and spoon
Headlamp
Background
What is EECEP?
In 2022, clans from two villages, Elopa and Etugu, of the Idu Mishmi community in the Lower Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh declared part of their ancestral customary land a Community Conserved Area (CCA), called Elopa-Etugu Community Eco-Cultural Preserve (EECEP). The acronym EECEP means ‘a place we have left ‘in the Idu Mishmi language. The name holds deep meaning for Elopa-Etugu’s clans’ who were forced to leave their ancestral land in the 1990s as River Talõ (Dibang) changed course and swallowed their agricultural fields. EECEP is a way of going back to where the clans’ roots lie - where the histories of their ancestors, land, rivers and streams, animals, birds, and fish are deeply interrelated.
EECEP aims to conserve, research, manage and use sustainably - in accordance with Idu Mishmi tradition, informed by scientific knowledge, and with an eye to the rapidly changing world. The Idu Mishmi are known globally for their culture of conservation.
What is a CCA?
Community Conserved Area (CCA) is an area conserved by communities for cultural, religious, livelihood, or political purposes by customary and other effective means. CCAs differ from wildlife sanctuaries and national parks as local communities take the lead in protecting their traditional lands, biodiversity, culture, and livelihoods from threats, particularly large-scale infrastructure development, while also using it for spiritual and livelihood purposes. Instead of separating local people from their ancestral lands and forests, CCAs conserve through interdependence between nature and culture, people and wildlife, what we call ‘bio-cultural diversity’. Read more about how Indigenous communities globally are protecting their lands through CCAs here.
What is the importance of EECEP?
EECEP contains 76 sq km of tropical grasslands and dense mountain forests. In fact, EECEP is the first community-conserved wet tropical grassland in India. Over 45 species of mammals have been recorded in camera trap surveys led by community members and scientists, including flourishing populations of endangered species such as clouded leopard, Asiatic wild dog, Malayan sun bear, Hoolock gibbon, Himalayan and red serow, Blyth’s tragopan, Chinese pangolin, and hog deer. Over 200 species of birds have been recorded in EECEP including the critically endangered Bengal florican.
EECEP is managed by a Committee of representatives of four Idu Mishmi clans. The Management Committee’s mandate is not only to protect wildlife and restore degraded habitat, but also to strengthen inter-generational knowledge transfer and promote traditional Idu cultural norms, create sustainable income, and prevent large-scale infrastructure development without free, prior, and informed consent. In the Committee’s own words, “through restoration, protection, and measured use, we hope to lay the foundation for a sustainable future for our coming generations… A future where we are once again part of nature, not superior to it. A future where the economy is linked to generation, not destruction”.
The partnership
Nature Guides Academy has done several naturalist guide training programmes for members of the Idu Mishmi Community. This course has been co-designed and co-developed with our Idu friends in EECEP and the Dibang Team. It is an honor for NGA to have some of the previous trainees as co-leaders for this course.
If you are interested in joining this course please contact us: learn@natureguides.in