Community Conserved Areas in North East India: Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh

Sudipto Chatterjee, Sonali Ghosh, Jayanata Sharma, S..K Barik, B.K Tewari and Kulen Das

An introduction to Community Conserved Forests of North East India

A large part of the forests of Indian of the North Eastern states is reported to be under community ownership and have been broadly classified as Unclassed State Forests. In absence of a clear demarcation of these forests, it is speculated to be around 60% in the North Eastern states. Meghalaya scores the highest with 88.16 % of its forest area classified as Unclassed forests (SFR, 2005) with a very high degree of community ownership. Traditional and customary rights of more than 225 communities inhabiting the region are protected through the Schedule V and VI of the Indian Constitution. In such a scenario it is obvious that North East India would be hotspot of Community Conserved Area (CCA) since these forests have been maintained, managed and revered by the local communities since ages. Traditional and customary rights of the tribal communities inhabiting the region can therefore be a means of protecting the biodiversity. CCAs in North East exhibit a wide diversity, in terms of ownership, size, management regime and the rationale for their protection. They are found to be at different stages of degradation from pristine and relatively undisturbed to a point of degradation when restoration is not feasible. CCAs are age old as well as newly established, since, at one of the spectrum we find waning of traditional faiths, belief and values at the other end there has been consolidation, re sanctification and declaration of new community conserved areas. Situations also exists where traditional CCAs have been willingly handed over by the communities themselves to the government in wider interests of conservation. CCAs are spread all over North East, their existence however is not apparent in the states of Mizoram and Tripura. Prof K.C. Malhora , an eminent Anthropologist have reported about safety forests of Mizoram which are used for biomass but not timber (Malhotra, K.C. pers. Comm..) This paper has focused on the CCAs of Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.

1.0 The Community Conserved Areas s of AssamCCA s are broadly be defined as areas where the community of local people have the onus and ownership to protect and manage the natural resource in their vicinity. However, with this definition it is difficult to find such large CCA s in Assam. This is mainly due to the implementation of Imperial Forestry by the British as early as 1875 in the state as a result of which, large tracts of forests were brought under the legal control of the Forest department. For e.g. the Total forest area of Assam is 26,832 sq km out of which 66.58% area belongs to the forest department while only 33.42% is classified as Unclassed State Forests. This is much higher compared to 11.71 % of total forest area that is under stringent legal control in neighboring Meghalaya (SFR, 2005).

1.1 Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council1.2 Goalpara1.3 Marghareta, Lekhapani subdivision of Tinsukia and.1.4 Kokrajhar area under the Bodoland Territorial Areas District

(A table provided in the PDF version has a lot of syntax errors, it is not available with me for corections)

Community Conserved Areas in Lower Assam – a case study from Bodoland Territorial

Council and adjoining areas

BTAD (Bodoland Territorial Areas District) also popularly known as Bodoland Territorial

Council (BTC) is a new born Autonomous council area unravelled from the northern part of

western Assam under the sixth schedule of the constitution of India in 2003. BTC lies between

2607’12” N to 26047’50” N and 89047’40’’ E to 92018’30’’ E longitude and has 4 districts with

headquarters at Kokrajhar which was also the original district in Assam. In addition it has 3 new

carved out districts of Chirang, Udalguri and Baksa (Fig1). These four districts have been part of

8 districts of Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup, Darrang and few

villages of Sonitpur district. The river Pachnoi of Sonitpur district is the easternmost boundary

and river Sankosh in west, Bhutan in north and Dhubri, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari and

Kamrup districts in south. All the districts in the Council are economically very backward.

Majority of the population are agriculturists. The villagers practise traditional agriculture. Poor

yield of agricultural crops from small and limited land holding is unable to support the growing

village population. Alternative employment opportunities are not available for the rural poor.

The people of Bodoland are commonly known as bodos, one of the largest plains tribe

communities that predominantly practise agriculture. The other ethnic communities in the area

include the Koch-Rajbongshis, Adivasis, Nepalis, and the Garos. Together they constitute more

than 60% of the population which is around 29.21 lakhs (2001 census). The people of bodoland

have experienced a long period of turmoil and unrest in the last decade and peace has finally

returned with their first democratically elected government in the year 2003. After agriculture,

forests are the mainstay of Economy in BTC. The area of BTC extends over 8970 sq km out of

which 40% of the area is covered with forests. As such BTC has a recorded forest area of 3539.95

sq km most of which is located along the international boundary with Bhutan. The entire northern

belt forest is situated in Sub-Himalayan alluvial tract of a typical formation known as ‘Bhabhar

tract’ characterised by low water table and deep bouldery deposits with an underlying sandy

loams. The forest types available in BTC range from Semi-deciduous forests in the west with Sal

(Shorea robusta) as the dominant tree species to broad leaved wet evergreen forests in the east

including Khair Sissoo and Riparian forests.

Traditionally, Bodos practice an ancient form of Hinduism that is termed as Bathou. This religion

primarily involves the worship of lord Shiva which they represent through the plant Shijou

(Euphorbia splendens) that is always planted at a specific location in the courtyard of a bodo

household. The branches of the Shijou tree represent the 5 elements (Fire, Wind, Water, Sky and

Earth) that Are part of the Universe. Similarly Golden langur is considered sacred as Sugriva; the

monkey king mentioned in Ramayana is considered as their ancestor. Their traditional songs and

dances such as Bagrumba and Bar-dwi -Sikla also represent nature and describe the symbiotic

relationship that Bodos share with forests and wildlife. A few case studies of community

conservation in BTC and adjoining areas are mentioned below:

1. Proclamation of Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary- Chakrashila WLS was declared a

PA in 1994. It is one of the few WLS that has been proclaimed after much public

demand. Golden langur (Trachypithecus geei) is a highly endemic and endangered leaf

eating monkey that is naturally distributed only between the rivers Sankosh and Manas in

western Assam. It is much revered among the Hindu tribals who consider it to be a direct

descendant of god hanuman. Over the years the population has been fragmented into 2

distinct subpopulations and rough estimates indicate less than 5000 golden langurs in the

fragmented forests of India. Chakrashila wildlife sanctuary represents the largest of the

southern forest and therefore restoring connectivity between these patches will be

essential for the long term viability of these populations. Chakrashila also harbours a set

of sacred mountains ‘Dan duphur’ that are worshipped during the April festivals. The

term Chakrashila is also loosely derived from the word ‘Sikrisikla’ which means butterfly

in bodo language. Besides, Chakrashila WLS, A significant population of Golden langur

(120 as per last count in june 2008) also take refuge in Abhaya rubber garden. This

rubber garden is a privately owned plantation with a total area of 100 ha and provides the

safety of tall canopy trees to this arboreal primate. The owner of the rubber garden (Mr.

K.N.Deb) along with the local villagers of Amguri have taken up several initiatives such

as providing fodder species to the golden langur so that they are protected.

2. The Gendrabil initiative- Gendrabil is a small patch of Sal (Shorea robusta) forest near

kokrajhar town that has been well preserved by the local community since 2001. the

Bodo tribals of two villages Boro Gendrabil North and Boro Gendrabil South have been

able to successfully prevent any illegal felling of trees of this Reserve Forest and as a

result 3 troupes of golden langur are residing in this area.

3. Manas Conservation volunteers -Manas National Park is world renowned for its

outstanding natural beauty and rich biological heritage. It also has the distinction of being

designated as a tiger reserve, a world heritage site, biosphere reserve and part of the

Ripu-Chirang elephant reserve. Over the last one decade, Manas was fraught with danger

due to ensuing political turmoil and insurgency. Since 2005, after the formation of

Bodoland Territorial Council the situation has much improved and is fast returning to

normalcy. It is to strengthen the initiatives of the BTC government that young volunteers

have joined hands with the forest department and have taken to protect the forests and

wildlife in the park. Among these groups, the pioneer among them is Manas Maozegendri

Environment society (MMES) that is active in the eastern range of the park. They have

been able to convince more than 100 erstwhile poachers to lay down their arms and help

in joint patrolling with the conservation volunteers. Several of these young conservation

volunteers have also diversified into professional bird watching and have established an

eco-tourism camps. Several other NGOs/conservation volunteer groups such as New

Horizon at Koila Moila, Panbari Conservation society, Biodiversity Conservation Society

at Ultapani and Green Forest Conservation in Kachugaon have been able to provide

indirect employment to more than 1500 local young boys whose prime duty is to assist in

the protection of forests.

4. Community conservation of Golden Langur in Kakoijana, Bongaigaon District

Kakoijana Reserve forest is located in Bongaigaon district and is administered under Aie

Valley forest Division. Ten years ago the small moist deciduous hill forest of this area

was degraded and the 100 odd golden langurs found in the area were forced to live on the

ground due to lack of adequate canopy cover. The forest is surrounded by 27 odd villages

with different ethnic communities such as Garos, Rabhas, Advivasis, Bodos and Muslims

forming the majority in individual villages. It took a small initiative from a local NGO

called Nature’s Foster (Mr Arnab Bose) and the support of training and motivation that

prompted the communities to protect the forest patch for conservation of the golden

langur. Today the forests has sprung back and as a result of this there are more than 400

odd golden langurs reported in this area. Besides conservation of Golden langur, the

villagers are also gearing up to conserve the habitat of the hill forest for alternative

livelihood options such as eco-tourism and intregrated farming etc.

5. Community conservation of Openbill storks and Lesser Adjutant storks in

Arrearjhar- The Asian Openbill Stork, Anastomus oscitans, and the Lesser

adjutant Stork Leptoptilos javanicus are large wading birds that are resident

breeders in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri lanka east to Southeast Asia.

They are also widespread residents in Assam and are seen commonly in urban and

rural areas. Every year the open bill storks, built a large nesting colony(of over

300 nests) in the tall Sal (Shorea robusta) trees found in Arrearjhar Reserve

Forest located in Dhubri district. Arrearjhar RF borders Kokrajhar district and is

also close to Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary. The nests were built on tall Sal trees

as they provided natural protection against ground predators, while the presence

of large water bodies such as Dhir beel, a large water body and Champa River

offered ample feeding grounds. In October 2007, there was a mass mortality due

to heavy downpour and thunderstorms. More than 50 dead chicks were recovered

below the trees and this prompted the villagers to seek technical help in protecting

the birds. With a small grant from Wildlife Trust of India, an NGO and technical

advice from experts (Dr Hilloljyoti Singha, PhD) and veterinarians, safety nets

were provided below the nesting trees. Two chicks were also recued and

successfully hand reared subsequently. Similarly, local village communities in

Chapar also provide protection against poaching to lesser adjutant storks and

other migratory birds and as a result, the avifauna in the region is rather

impressive.

Fig 1: Location map of Bodoland Territorial council in Assam

Fig 2. Manas maozegendri initiative in Manas National Park

Fig 3: The Rabha Community of Jornagra involved in conservation in Chakrashila WLS

Fig 4:Community conservation of open bill storks and Lesser adjutant storks in Arrearjhar and Chapar areas of Dhubri district

Fig 5: Artificial hand rearing of tree fallen chicks of openbill storks at Arrearjhar.

Fig 6: Conservation volunteers from New Horizon, Nature’s Foster and others along with forest department staff and experts during the Golden Langur population estimation at Kalamati (Chirang Forest Division) in March 2009.

Fig 7: members from gendrabil and other villages adjoining Chakrashila WLS along with Dy. Chief and EM, Forests Shri Kampa Borgayari during the Chakrashila Conservation tourism festival in April 2008.

Fig:Chakrashila Wildlife sanctuary with its sacred mountains

Fig: the endangered golden langur in Abhaya rubber garden

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