Wildlife filmmaker Mike H. Pandey, the only Indian to have won the Green Oscar twice, plans to involve school children and youth from the northeastern states in helping preserve the region's rich biodiversity.

Pandey, who heads the Delhi-based NGO Earth Matters Foundation (EMF), is starting two projects in the northeast - Web India Wildlife and Animal Brigade - to sensitise people on various aspects of wildlife preservation.

"The northeast is a storehouse of diverse bio forms. These two projects, with headquarters in Guwahati, aim to motivate, inspire and sensitise people about preservation of the enormous bio reserves of the region," Pandey told IANS here.

"Species are disappearing and becoming extinct and this can lead to fragmentation of beautiful life forms," he said.

"The Web India Wildlife project will involve children as they are the group that can be groomed to lead the campaign in the preservation of nature.

"On the other hand, Animal Brigade is a tiger protection force that would have local youths as members."

Pandey hopes to involve over a million youths and school kids for the two projects. These schemes would be a good beginning to keep intact the rich ecology of the region, he said.

The EMF had earlier undertaken a series of programmes - film shows, music and puppet shows, and signature campaigns - to sensitise people on wildlife preservation.

Pandey also plans to make documentaries on the region's flora and fauna, including the famous one-horned rhinoceros found in Assam's Kaziranga National Park.

At present he is working on two films - on the Gangetic dolphin found in the river Sarayu in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh and on the interdependence of man on nature. Both are expected to be completed next year.

Pandey, who first won the Wildscreen Panda Award or Green Oscar in 1994 for "The Last Migration - Wild Elephant Capture in Sarguja", won it again in 2000 for "Shores of Silence: Whale Sharks in India".

"The Last..." brought to light for the first time the man-animal conflict and its repercussions. It showed that shooting was not the solution for rogue elephants.

"Shores..." was the first Indian film to focus on the large marine species, and the movie led to a ban on the killing of whale sharks in India.

Pandey is also the first filmmaker to be awarded the prestigious UN International Award for Outstanding Achievement in Global Conservation for generating awareness on the conservation of the whale shark.

Pandey's other works that have won him both national and international appreciation include "Vanishing Giants", a film that led to the introduction of more humane techniques for capturing elephants and their post capture treatment, and "Timeless Traveller: The Horseshoe Crab," which initiated efforts for the conservation and protection of the unique crab species.