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DIMAPUR — In what may be considered as a first-of-a-kind venture, the Nagaland State Biodiversity Board (NSBB) has recorded a total of 567 aquatic sites in the Southern Angami region in Kohima district.
An update from NSBB stated that it has documented the aquatic bio-resources and their associated traditional knowledge, good practices, findings and recommendations from 12 villages settled at the foothills of Japfu range.
It stated that the study undertaken by NSBB recorded a total of 567 aquatic sites which included rivers/ streams, springs, ponds and man-made water storage structures. Besides, it recorded a total of 65 aquatic faunal species and 48 floral species.
The study was conducted under the Indo-German bilateral cooperation project ‘Protection and Sustainable Management of Aquatic Resources in the Northeastern Himalayan Region of India’ (NERAQ) with funding support from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) under the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and implemented jointly by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
It mentioned that NERAQ projects are currently being implemented in Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland.
The study involved preliminary quantitative assessment of the freshwater aquatic resources available in 12 villages namely Chakhabama/ Sakhabama, Jakhama, Kezo Basa, Kezoma, Khuzama, Kidima, Kigwema, Mima, Mitelephe, Pfüchama, Phesama and Viswema.
It stated that with the assistance of the biodiversity management committee of the respective villages, NSBB not only successfully documented aquatic bio-resources and but also documented associated traditional knowledge and good practices of the 12 villages.
It mentioned that the Northeastern Himalayas have created a unique freshwater biodiversity hotspot in Northeast India which is home to various endemic species, many of them perhaps, still undiscovered. It added that the indigenous people and local communities in India are mandated to document their valuable biological resources and traditional practices connected to each species.
While the intensive exercise of the so-called ‘Peoples Biodiversity Register’ (PBR) has been successful so far throughout the country, it stated that documentation of aquatic species has mostly been ignored due to their tricky whereabouts in and around the streams and rivers and know-how of documenting them. NSBB stated that Nagaland has been one of the most unexplored states in the northeast region in this context.
The board felt that PBR would serve as a baseline data for research related activities and also serve as important reference material for conservation planning and management of natural resources.
NSBB further informed that it has scaled up the preparation of PBR by carrying out similar exercises in 70 villages of Nagaland with support from another Indo-German project, Forest and Biodiversity Management in the Himalaya, Nagaland Project, which is supported by the KfW.