Dibrugarh: The two-day Jeypore Rainforest Festival, 2017, got off to a colourful start on the banks of the Buridehing at Jeypore in Dibrugarh district of Assam on Saturday.

The festival, which will showcase the rich biodiversity of the region, was inaugurated by tourism minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The festival was started by Nature's Beckon, an NGO, in 2001.

In his inaugural speech, Sarma expressed hope that the festival will promote tourism in the region to a great extent. "The Dehing Patkai reserve forest has a lot of potential in tourism and every year many foreign tourists visit the area for its rich biodiversity. Our government is committed to develop the tourism sector of Assam. We have taken several steps and will, in the coming days, initiate more measures to boost tourism," he said.

"Our government has launched a new scheme, Amar Alohi, to provide homestay facilities to the tourists. We have decided to select 50 local youths from the region and employ them through this scheme and our government will provide Rs 3 lakh to each individual," the minister said.

Speaking on the occasion, Dibrugarh MP Rameshwar Teli said, "We are organising the festival to tap the rich biodiversity of the region. The rain forest is unique in India and has a lot of tourism potential. I hope the festival will boost the tourism of this area."

The main attraction of the inaugural day was a food festival and a self-help group mela, comprising over 100 participants. Paragliding was another prime attraction of the event.

Jeypore is situated 60km southeast of Dibrugarh, the district headquarters.

The rainforest is a biodiversity hotbed that can rival the best tropical rainforest sites in Southeast Asia. It is home to a number of wildlife species, including endangered ones. The rainforest is home to around 200 elephants while the population of western hoolock gibbon (considered one of world's 25 endangered primates) is 432.