JORHAT, July 23: Gunin Saikia while providing a detailed account of the conservation status of several primate species found in the upper Brahmaputra of northeastern region laid stress on the initiation of Project Primate in line with Project Tiger and Project Elephant in order to divert immediate conservation attention to many primate species in North-East that are facing tremendous pressure from various factors. Addressing a training-cum-workshop on primate census techniques at the Gibbon Conservation Centre, Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, Mariani in Jorhat recently, Saikia said that virtually all the primate species were in grave danger due to shrinkage of habitat and large-scale fragmentation owing to expansion of human settlement, tea gardens and agriculture. The training on prime census techniques was conducted by the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, in collaboration with Jorhat Forest Division and Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary. Narayan Sharma, who imparted the training stated in his lecture, "counting primates for conservation', that the need of conducting primate census and surveys on a regular basis has become vital so as to get the trend in population charge of all primate bearing areas of upper Brahmaputra. He was of the opinion that counting primates can help conservation managers to decide where to intervene to best conserve a species and also assess whether the conservation actions are working effectively. In the highly interactive training session, in which youths of Meleng Lakhipar and forest personnel participated, various techniques like vegetation sampling and geographic information in mapping of primate habitats. On the second day of the programme, the trainees were taken to the nearest Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary for field exposure. The trainees have practically implemented various census techniques and learnt to collect data on various aspects of primate ecology. At the end of the training the certificates were distributed among the participants. The meeting was presided over by Professor Binod Kumar Gogoi, president, Hollongapar Nature's Club, while JM Kouli, conservator of forests, who graced he occasion as chief guest emphasized on the need of conducting such training so that forest personnel with adequate knowledge on various field techniques could be trained for future monitoring on wildlife population.