EMN
Dimapur, May 20
Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) of Old Jalukie village has been selected for the India Biodiversity Award 2014 under the co-management category and invited to attend the ceremony scheduled on May 22 at Port Blair, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
The India Biodiversity Awards instituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, and the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), recognizes outstanding models of biodiversity governance and importantly the central role played by communities that are at the heart of any effort to conserve biodiversity. The award recognizes people, communities and agencies from across the country who have led effective models of biodiversity governance including community-run institutions, local self-governance bodies, joint forest management committees and protected area management agencies engaged in preserving designated protected areas. In this year’s India Biodiversity Award 2014, the name of Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) of Old Jalukie village was nominated by Peren Forest Division, seeing the committed effort rendered by the community for preservation of their village forest against all odds and against the backdrop of a fast diminishing biodiversity in the district due to over exploitation of forest resources.
A press release issued by Rampaukai Mpom, Range Forest Officer of Jalukie Range, Peren Division, said Old Jalukie community biodiversity reserve was locally declared by a village council resolution way back in 1986 and later signed an MoU with Forest Department on June 15, 2012, which stands tall as one pioneering community conservation initiatives in the region.
During the last few years of its effort, the community had successfully merged the traditional system with the ethics of conservation, whereby certain governance systems were evolved that blend well with the traditional life of the community and some innovative practices for reduction of pressure on forest and alternative livelihood models were introduced.
The conservation model had started a chain of policy change at many levels today, where many villages have come forward and set aside conservation areas in their respective villages. The District Planning & Development Board (DPDB), Peren, has successfully imposed total ban on hunting and fishing with poison in the district.
Rampaukai Mpom further stated that this year’s award conferred on JFMC Old Jalukie was indeed a deserving case and he was optimistic that it would surely have a positive impact on biodiversity conservation in the State and the world at large.
