Manas National Park (MNP) is a unique protected biodiversity hotspot in the Eastern Himalayas of Assam, India. As a national park the area falls under the legal framework of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, which restricts extraction of natural resources from inside the park.
The villages around MNP are dominated by the indigenous Bodo tribe. The Bodo are closely associated with the forest, they worship nature with its five elements and they practice a traditional irrigation system. The majority of the Bodo people maintain homestead gardens, containing a high level of agrobiodiversity, and, if managed as defined by traditional knowledge, these gardens also bear the potential for a fuel wood support.
However, with the Bodo agitation in the late 1980s, two decades of civil unrest started, leading to insecurity and extreme poverty of many households. During this time people took advantage of the instable situation, occupied land within MNP or went for timber collection and poaching within the protected area. As a consequence MNP was listed as a World Heritage Site “in Danger” (1992-2011). As the park was easy to access by the fringe villagers people could readily collect natural resources, such as, fuel wood, thatch, reeds, fish, and wild vegetables, leading to a massive degradation of the natural habitats. With the change of the socio political situation and initiatives taken by Bodoland Territorial Council, park authority and non-governmental organisation’s efforts, law enforcement through regular patrolling inside the park has lead to entry restriction of villagers.
Since 2015 the integrated “Manas Tiger Conservation Programme” is being implemented by Aaranyak and partners. It aims at reducing the pressure on Manas through a “push and pull” approach, involving strengthened law enforcement within MNP and the simultaneous provision of livelihood options and conservation education outside the park. Up to now, the project has reached out to 1400 households covering 31 fringe villages through various skill trainings and small scale technical support.
Integrating those community members, who are highly dependant on the natural resources of MNP, is vital for this project. Target communities have been involved in all project phases. In the beginning participatory tools were used to identify major issues and challenges in the villages, followed by a detailed socio-economic survey involving community members. Based on the socio-economic information livelihood interventions were planned. Potential users were asked to incorporate their views, needs and choices, taking into consideration ecological settings and cultural systems. For example women, primarily using fire wood for cooking, participated in developing and designing improved cooking stoves to reduce fuel wood consumption without changing their cooking habits. Selected project beneficiaries have been providing information about their progress on different livelihood options on a weekly basis. Such information are very crucial for taking corrective measures. Furthermore, local communities were involved in developing an action plan to mitigate impacts from access restriction.
Understanding values and traditions of local communities affected by conservation endeavours and understanding the utilization of natural resources by these people is inevitable, if conservation shall be successful in long-term.
Topics: Natural Resource and Conservation Stakeholders: Managing Expectations and Engageme
