Nagaland: ‘People are at the heart of conservation’

Morung Express News 
Kohima | June 21

While talks surrounding conservation are often associated with policies, governance, economy or funds, Bano Haralu, Project Lead, Wild Life Conservation - India, highlighted on Saturday that, “people are at the heart of conservation.” 

She was speaking as one of the resource persons at the Botanical Garden Kohima during a workshop on 'Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation' organised by Kohima Press Club (KPC) as part of the yearlong celebration of its 25th Anniversary in collaboration with the Silviculture Division Kohima on June 21. 

She remarked that Nagaland state is in a very critical stage of her evolvement with a population of less than 2 million people. In relationship with the environment, she stated that the population growth rate is going to get affected in the next decade or so. 

Stating that we are higher than the national average, she said that, “these are not good indicators” while also highlighting that the state mortality rate is perhaps the best in the country but that the fertility rate is going down.

She underlined that conservation is directly related to the access that our people have to nutrition, good water, good livelihood, and good healthy lifestyle. Reiterating that people are at the heart of all these, she urged for the need to look at these things more closely.

As journalists, she further asserted that, “it is one of our duties to see the infrastructure and the roll out of delivery systems of medical care, of roads, of water, of electricity, and education system.”

She also dwelt on the disability landscape in Nagaland and the need to include people with physical disabilities in these conversations around access. Observing that the most crucial things that need support get the least funding, she also remarked that so much emphasis is being given in creation of infrastructure and questioned: “Why are not we spending more money on maintenance and improvement?”

Haralu further highlighted that the state has lost so much forest cover in the preceding years since statehood, and also observed that “unregulated hunting is one of the major causes” as regrowth of forest cannot happen without wildlife.

Dwelling extensively on the concerns and challenges that Nagaland is facing in conservation, she also spoke about working in the fringes of the Intangki National Park where they are directly engaged with 6 villages, and an additional 8 villages around the area in building awareness. She further deliberated on the issue of hunting while terming is as “serious and rampant” which is an outcome of the absence of conversation awareness. 

In this regard, she also pointed out that “the value that our elders once gave to ecological and traditional knowledge and stories have now been replaced by schools and textbooks.” Underscoring the importance of the younger generation to connect with their culture and traditions, she impressed upon that the beauty of the traditional and indigenous knowledge is that it is so deeply rooted in the soil.

In the way we are not priortising conservation, she dwelt on the issues of losing out many species of bamboo, soil erosion, and the problem of monocropping that has introduced teak, rubber and palm oil. 

Towards this end, she urged for alternative and viable sources of income such as ecotourism and culture tourism. However, she also emphasised that, “these can only work when we have a sound ecological environment.”

She urged the members of the Kohima Press Club by saying that they can do a lot more and look at issues that are directly affecting our ecology while citing the construction of bridges, the landslides, the unstopped quarrying. She also felt that a very significant change can come about in the next 30-35 years by investing in the youth. 

“There is a great need in Nagaland to form Collectives”, she added while emphasising that the strength of Nagaland is the community. She also urged the journalists to look outside the press releases and events.

'Your narratives matter & should always be for the good of the people'
Gwasinlo Thong, Member Indigenous People & Local Communities (IP&LC) Advisory Board, WCS-International, & Chairman Sendenyu Community Biodiversity & Wildlife Conservation Board, told members or Kohima Press Club on Saturday that, “Your narratives matter and it is what the society will believe.”

He also went on to say that, “Your narratives should always be for the good of the people, for the good of the society and the future generations” while expressing that, “you can play a pivotal role in bringing the right change in the society.”

Speaking on the topic, “Community Biodiversity & Wildlife Conservation' at the workshop organised by Kohima Press Club in collaboration with Silviculture Division Kohima, he remarked that, “we have millions of challenges.” But the most immediate challenge we have today, he asserted, “is ecological and environmental issues, where if we don't act now, it may be too late.” 

He spoke about how our whole life evolve around biodiversity while relating stories of our ancestors who cultivated the land without disturbing the ecological balance. Stating that the complexities of climate change were never known to our ancestors, he remarked that, “they were somehow able to intuitively maintain a perfect ecological balance at least in their surroundings.”

On the Article 371A, he also maintained that it has to be protected while articulating that so long as this is there, our identity is there. “By any means Nagas have to defend this”, he said while pointing out that if it is amended/removed, “our very right of existence, our culture, and our history is at stake.”

Thong further took the audience on a visual tour of “Sendenyu Community Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation Reserve” through a PowerPoint presentation, highlighting its history and journey of 25 years of efforts in conservation that has reaped rewarding results.

Mention may be made here that the Sendenyu Community Conserve Area is also known for its pioneering example in creating the first biodiversity education center in the state. It was also honoured with the Balipara Foundation Award in 2016.

'We need to do meaningful conservation'
Prabhat Kumar, IFS, State Silviculturist, advocated that 'we should always strive for meaningful conservation' while highlighting that in the state of Nagaland, two major roadblocks in conservation are “deforestation and hunting.”

While hunting may have been associated with tradition in the past, wherein people were dependent on forest and wildlife, he pointed out that, “things have changed.” He also cited the market for it wherein people are now hunting not just for food for also to sell and showcase on social media, which he further termed as “dangerous.”

Another reason for conservation which we generally hear, he noted is “the need to save it for our future generations.” However, he maintained that the reason why we should conserve is because it is the right thing to do and also asserted that “all the individual efforts matter.”

He also said the media carry big responsibility and has the power to control the flow of information in the right manner especially when it comes to awareness. Stating that they are the link between various agencies, organisations and public, he asserted that their role is very crucial and reiterated that, “we need to do meaningful conservation.” 

In her opening remarks, President of Kohima Press Club, Alice Yhoshü expressed that the workshop is one of the programmes being organised as part of the yearlong celebration of the 25th Anniversary of KPC envisioned to help equip the members with more knowledge on biodiversity and conservation issues as well as help them to effectively report on biodiversity-related issues. 

Medolenuo Ambrocia, Journalist EastMojo & Member of Kohima Press Club chaired the programme.