By Robin Eastment
Nagaland is a region as rural as can be. Such regions, most often than not, have two things in common. They are “underdeveloped” and “highly biodiverse”. In the case of Nagaland, on one hand it is the 10th poorest state in India, with 25% of its population classified as “multi-dimensionally poor” as per the Niti Aayog. On the other hand, it is part of two Biodiversity Hotspot Regions, The Eastern Himalayas and The Indo-Myanmar. 73.90% of its lands are under forest cover. Increasingly, such biodiverse-rich regions are rapidly losing their natural heritage. Declining wildlife and fragmented forests have been the outcome of extensive human activity, that in many cases are deemed necessary for regions such as Nagaland to keep pace with a rapidly developing India.
Nsenlo Village, Peren District-Nagaland
The Nagaland landscape is critical in that it connects the forests of Northeastern India to those in Myanmar. Through these ‘corridors’ pass Elephants and the occasional Tiger. As Tiger populations increase in the neighboring Parks of Assam, such as the Kaziranga and Orang, these landscapes may eventually host Tiger populations of the future. However, the availability and abundance of prey populations, and habitats to support them, are visible roadblocks to this fantastic vision.
The Hunter -Warrior People
The Nagas, an Indo-Asiatic people, form more than 20 tribes, as well as numerous subtribes, each assigned a specific geographic distribution. Although customs might differ from one tribe to another, a common Naga trait is that they are a proud ethnic community and prolific hunters. The preference for bush meat also aids and abets the culture of hunting. Despite a decline in its traditional methods, hunting remains a contemporary practice. The Konyaks, the largest Naga tribe, epitomise the Hunter-Warrior Spirit. What sets them apart from the rest of the tribes is their fierce headhunting history. They practiced this up until the 1960’s, but gradually gave it up as the Indian Government banned this practice.
The unique conservation potential of Nagaland
Nagaland is the only state in India where Article 371-A of the Indian Constitution applies. Article 371-A bestows special powers and privileges on the Naga people and their customs. No act of Parliament can be used to govern Nagaland when it comes to the subject of customary laws. This grants a large degree of autonomy to its tribal communities and institutions to function on traditional laws & customs. 88% of land in Nagaland is community/private owned and overseen by village councils, district councils and other traditional institutions. Traditional laws and customs govern these lands.
There are records of Community Conservation Areas (CCAs) being declared in Nagaland in the early 1800s. Community Conserved Areas are community owned forest lands voluntarily conserved by local communities. It has been documented that one-third of Nagaland’s villages have constituted CCAs, covering more than 1,700 km2, and as many as 82% of 407 CCAs enforce various regulations for conservation, with varying degrees of effectiveness.
Intanki National Park
The singular National Park in Nagaland, Intanki is at the centre of the conservation challenge in Nagaland. As populations and aspirations around its fringes rise, its habitat viability sinks. To counter this challenge, a team from WCS-India is mobilizing communities around the Landscape. The project’s long-term approach is to establish an incentive-based model to encourage local communities to partner effectively with conservation projects. Through investments in community and livelihood assets, the project aims to position “conservation action” as opportunities for local communities to reap tangible benefits in lieu of their collaboration.
The conservation goal of the project is to support Village Councils to revive and strengthen traditional conservation measures. These could include designating or re-designating CCA’s, formalizing regulations and organizing the enforcement of regulations. This would then lead to formations of “collectives”, where a number of villages get together to conserve large tracts of contiguous co-owned forest lands. Regulations and enforcement of regulations are matters that, in ideal scenarios, would evolve organically. Therefore, the objective of the project is to enable community ownership. Hence, 22 talented individuals from within the community have been employed and assigned key planning and implementation roles in the ongoing Project. The Project is a part of the Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Program (ITHCP-Phase II)*
Paperwork! Youth Partners in Pellhang Village noting down details for the Project’s Livelihood Program
There are examples of such conservation collectives spread across Nagaland. The Pauna Range Conservation Committee is a consortium of 24 villages formed to safeguard the integrity of a 30 km2 forest landscape. Similarly, the Nanga Greener Zone Committee was jointly established by 14 villages to protect the Nanga River and its peripheral forests from degradation.
A view of the Mount Pauna Forest.
Community members from the Intanki Landscape have visited and interacted with both communities mentioned above to understand the challenges and opportunities of the collective community. If there is support for these communities to undertake similar initiatives, there is hope that Nagaland and Intanki will continue to be viable habitats for a host of wildlife.
*The Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme (ITHCP) is an initiative implemented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and funded by German Cooperation via KfW Development Bank, which contributes to the global effort to double tiger numbers in the wild by 2022 by supporting landscape level conservation work benefiting species, communities and habitats. Coordinated actions, enhancing conservation skills, developing new livelihoods and improving governance and infrastructure are delivering results in terms of better protected tigers across these landscapes.
About the author:
Robin Eastment is a Programme Manager at WCS-India. He has been associated with the Conservation Industry for 17 years now and has had the privilege of working with Bodo, Santhal, Adivasi, Nepali, Assamese, and currently Naga communities on matters related to conservation and community benefits thereof.