DIMAPUR, JUNE 18 (MExN): The Indigenous Women Forum North East India (IWFNEI) has expressed their concerns that climate change is impinging their life on a day to day basis through water scarcity, crop failures, increasing pest infestation, different kind of sickness which they had not known before, weather extremes, land slide in the hills and floods in the plains. A press note from the IWFNEI stated that these circumstances are leading them to further disadvantaged position in society. It therefore called upon the governments of the North East region to look into the situation of the indigenous women in developing Climate Change Action Plan their respective states. The IWFNEI specifically recommended that governments ensure effective participation of rural women framing development policies, programs and implementation; and undertake research on traditional occupation in order protect and promote traditional knowledge such as jhum cultivation. It also called for discouraging non- eco-friendly actions and programs such as mono plantation of trees like teak, rubber, jatropha plant, palmetc in rural areas which cannot replace the service that forests provide. The forum further asked that Free Prior Informed Consent be respected in declaring wild life sanctuary and national park; and to stop construction of mega dams and mining or other resource exploration that could have detrimental effects on socio-economic in tribal areas These recommendations are an outcome of the two days conference on Indigenous Women and Climate Change for North Eastern States, which was held from June 15-16 in Imphal.
