Come September 18 and 18 artists from across the globe will auction their works in New York in a bid to collect fund for development of the first community biosphere reserve in India, reports PTI. The Eko Dumbing community biosphere reserve in Siang valley in Arunachal Pradesh will be the first-of-its-kind in the country. It is also one of the last tropical pristine forests left on earth, says Nalong Mize, media associate, Future Generations, a US-based NGO which is organising the auction.

A day after Centre announced firming up of proposals to execute the proposed Siang (Upper) and (Lower) hydro power projects, the Forum for Siang Dialogue (FSD) opposed the projects citing submergence of thousands of hectares of land and threat to indigenous tribes.

The Forum has joined Sangharsh that includes a host of organisations including National Alliance for People