Four village councils (VCs) of Sendenyu Rengma Naga tribe have condemned the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023 (FCA) as it challenged the very essence of traditional customary and indigenous ownership rights of the people over their land and forest as per the proviso of Article 371(A).
The Sendenyu VC, New Sendenyu VC, Thongsunyu VC and Lostuphen VC claimed that as a response to a rapid decline of fauna and flora species in the region, the indigenous leaders and members of the villages had resolved in 2001 to start community biodiversity conservation by unanimously passing The Sendenyu Village Wildlife Conservation Act, 2001.
Following people voluntarily donated their clan and private lands for community conservation to form a wildlife and biodiversity corridor of approximately 22 sq km (2,200 hectares), the councils said it was resolved to be managed by Sendenyu Community Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation Board. As a result of the continued efforts, Sendenyu biodiversity recorded an increase in flora and fauna and recorded newly-discovered amphibian species Ichthyophis Sendenyu, now listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
Given the manner in which the community had made great sacrifices and contributions to the ecological security, natural heritage and cultural identity of the land, the VCs said the FCA was a direct act of discrimination and discouragement to the efforts of the true custodians of forestlands as it would enable arbitrary diversion by the Central government without obtaining prior consent from village councils and local district authorities.
As per the current amendment and provision of the Act, the councils pointed out that entire Nagaland and its forest fell under the 100-km of the international boundary, giving the Central government arbitrary power for diversion. Hence, they appealed to all fellow Naga tribes’ village councils across the state to take up this issue as a matter of great urgency and such that the Act could be rejected by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, and the rights bestowed by ancestors did not go in vain in the name of national importance and security.
The VCs also endorsed the concerns expressed by the Nagaland Community Conservation Area Forum in its press release. They condemned the Act because for such a major amendment no consultative process was undertaken to understand the nuances and intricacies of land rights and forest issues of the people in various parts of India and the Northeast. Hence, without the due process of consultation with all stakeholders concerned, such an amendment to an existing Act was unconstitutional, undemocratic and unacceptable, the councils declared.