Dimapur, June 13: A work shop exploring the possibility of Nagaland needing a policy for community-conserved areas was held in the establishment of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest in Kohima town on June 13. The workshop, with a rather long topical theme “Does Nagaland need a policy for community Conserved Areas?-Policy dialogue under GEF- Satoyama Project Mainstreaming biodiversity Conservation and sustainable management in priority socio ecological production landscapes and seascapes” had legislators and politicians expressing opinions about conservation in Nagaland.
Minister for Forest Dr Nicky Kire was the chief guest of the event. Neihu C Thur, commissioner & secretary for the department of Forests, Ecology Environment and Wildlife; Dr S K Khanduri, IG for Forest (Wildlife), Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change; officials from TERI, All forest officers, community representatives and members of nongovernmental organizations attended the workshop, the organizers said in a press release that was issued to the media on Monday.
The organizers stated that the “objective of this workshop is to address the need for a policy on community-conserved areas in Nagaland, and to brainstorm on the modalities of developing such a policy including legal, financial and other implications.”
This workshop is the first in a series under a CI-Japan, GEF-Satoyama sponsored study on, “Mainstreaming Community-Conserved Areas for Biodiversity Conservation in Nagaland” that is being carried out by the TERI with the support of the Nagaland Forest department. A Senior Fellow of the TERI, JV Sharma, gave the introductory remarks. He said that in Nagaland, traditional conservation methods and Best Practices have helped protect biodiversity over the centuries. In Nagaland, customary rights are protected under Article 371 A of the constitution, and about 93% of natural habitats (largely forests) are owned by individual clans, village, district councils and other traditional community institutions, he said. “Hence customary land ownership and management practices characterize forest management in Nagaland, and the local people are empowered to manage their forests under the Nagaland Village Council (third Amendment) Act, 2002 which grants the village council the powers and duties ‘to supervise proper maintenance of forests.”
Sharma also said that escalating pressure on forests “for multiple uses,” has however adversely impacted the forests and local people, given their dependence on forest cover for a variety of provisioning and regulating ecosystem services.” These livelihood issues form a major impetus for the creation of community-conserved areas in the state of Nagaland to help conserve and protect key ecological interactions and ecosystem services, he said.
The revival of traditional conservation and forest management practices through the creation of community-conserved areas offers hope for forest protection and biodiversity conservation, as communities set aside parcels of forests within productive, jhum (shifting cultivation) landscapes.
“A study of Nagaland’s CCAs conducted by TERI and the Forest department of Nagaland found that almost one-third of Nagaland’s villages have constituted CCAs and as many as 82% of these 407 CCAs have completely or partially banned tree felling and/or hunting within the CCAs, and enforce various regulations for forest protection (TERI, 2015),” the organizers said.
“These CCAs which cover more than 1700 sq. km, by setting aside forests for conservation, also contribute extensively to carbon storage (an estimated 120.77 tonnes per ha (TERI, 2013), reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation, and are an important mitigation and adaptation strategy for Climate Change.”
Also, Neihu C Thur, the commissioner & secretary for Forest, Ecology Environment and Wildlife, ‘spoke about community conservation areas and its importance and growing pressure on CCAs,’ the handout stated.
The keynote address was given by Dr SK Khanduri, IG for Forests (Wildlife) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. Dr Khanduri put on record his appreciation for the institution of community-conserved areas as traditional conservation and cultural practices of the people of Nagaland.
In his address, Khanduri emphasized on the need ‘for resources to not only strengthen the efforts but also to sustain the ecological, economic and social benefits accruing from the community-conserved areas.’
“He clarified the weightage of 7.5% to forests in the 14th Finance Commission calculations for devolution of central resources is only the beginning of recognition of the state of forest in the economy. Evolution of models and a policy on CCAs is needed to integrate community level conservation with sustainable forest management in Nagaland,” the organizers quoted him in the statement.
Minister for Forest Dr Nicky Kire, also addressed the event. He mentioned that these community-conserved areas face numerous challenges in their creation, effectiveness and sustainability, and local people require incentives to compensate for lost livelihood opportunities as productive landscapes and forests are set aside for conservation.
The TERI study found that the major challenge faced by 81% of the CCAs is providing alternative livelihood avenues, especially where most of the economic activity in the villages is based upon utilization of natural resources from these CCAs.
In the long-term, threatening the viability of these forested areas are the lost revenues from timber production. Creation of CCAs may lower incomes that previously came from the sale of forest products, and also have associated opportunity costs. A major issue is foregone benefits from the sale of timber revenues which has significant implications for the sustainability of CCAs.
“Since many of these CCAs comprise private or clan lands, owners frequently want these areas returned (particularly as forests improve) for their timber revenues. These issues will need to be addressed, particularly since 58% of the village councils reported facing financial constraints and 59% reported incursions of the timber mafia,” the statement said.
Given that only 11.7% of forests are under the governance of the state, these CCAs constitute the primary method for forest management and conservation in the State, in many ways on par with the country’s protected area system. Moreover, these CCAs sequester carbon worth more than 20 crores annually.
Despite their importance, however, there is currently no policy on the Community-Conserved Areas of the State and few funding avenues available. To ensure the future of Nagaland’s CCAs and thereby its forests and biodiversity, a multi-pronged approach including alternative livelihood opportunities through the development of ecotourism, ecological restoration, and long-term ecological monitoring is required.
However, of primary importance is the development of a policy on CCAs to buttress state recognition, support and funding of community-managed initiatives in Nagaland, the press release added.
