A policy dialogue workshop on “does Nagaland need a policy for community conserved areas?” under Global Environment Facility (GEF)-Satoyama Project was held in the conference hall of principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) & head of forest force (HOFF), Kohima on June 13, 2016. The objective of the workshop is to address the need for a policy on community-conserved areas (CCAs) in Nagaland, and to brainstorm on the modalities of developing such a policy including legal, financial and other implications.
In a press release, PCCF & HOFF, M.Lokeswara Rao, stated that the workshop was the first in a series under a CI-Japan, GEF-Satoyama sponsored study on “Mainstreaming Community–Conserved Areas for Biodiversity Conservation in Nagaland’ that was being carried out by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) with the support of the Nagaland forest department.
In his inaugural address, Nagaland Minister of forests, Dr. Neikiesalie (Nicky) Kire, acknowledged numerous challenges faced by CCAs and said local people required incentives to compensate for lost livelihood opportunities as productive landscapes and forests were set aside for conservation. TERI study found that the major challenge faced by 81% of the CCAs was providing alternative livelihood avenues, especially where most of the economic activity in the villages was based upon utilization of natural resources from those CCAs.
In the long-term, Dr. Nicky said threatening the viability of those forested areas were the lost revenues from timber production. He said creation of CCAs may lower incomes that previously came from the sale of forest products, and also have associated opportunity costs.
A major issue, he said was foregone benefits from the sale of timber revenues, which has significant implications for the sustainability of CCAs. Since many of the CCAs comprise private or clan lands, forest minister said owners frequently want those areas returned (particularly as forests improve) for their timber revenues. “These issues will need to be addressed, particularly since 58% of the village councils reported facing financial constraints and 59% reported incursions of the timber mafia,” said Dr.Nicky.
Given that only 11.7% of forests were under the governance of the state, the minister said those CCAs constituted the primary method for forest management and conservation in the state, in many ways on par with the country’s protected area system.
Moreover, he added that those CCAs sequestered carbon worth more than 20 crores annually. Despite their importance, however, there is currently no policy on the community-conserved areas of the state and few funding avenues available, Dr.Nicky said.
To ensure the future of Nagaland’s CCAs and thereby its forests and biodiversity, the minister of forests said a multi-pronged approach including alternative livelihood opportunities through the development of ecotourism, ecological restoration, and long-term ecological monitoring was required. However, he asserted that primary importance was the development of a policy on CCAs to buttress state recognition, support and funding of community-managed initiatives in Nagaland.
Giving introductory remarks, J V Sharma, Senior Fellow, TERI, said in Nagaland, traditional conservation and wise-use practices have helped protect biodiversity over the centuries.
He, however, said that escalating pressures on forests for multiple uses has adversely impacted the forests and local people, given their dependence on forest cover for a variety of provisioning and regulating ecosystem services. These livelihood issues form a major impetus for the creation of CCAs in the state to help conserve and protect key ecological interactions and ecosystem services, Sharma said.
He maintained that the revival of traditional conservation and forest management practices through the creation of CCAs, offers hope for forest protection and biodiversity conservation, as communities set aside parcels of forests within productive, jhum (shifting cultivation), landscapes.
A study of Nagaland’s CCAs conducted by TERI and the forest department of Nagaland found that almost one-third of Nagaland’s villages have constituted CCAs and as many as 82% of these 407 CCAs have completely or partially banned tree felling and/or hunting within the CCAs, and enforce various regulations for forest protection (TERI, 2015).
These CCAs which cover more than 1700 sq. km, by setting aside forests for conservation, also contribute extensively to carbon storage (an estimated 120.77 tonnes per ha (TERI, 2013), reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation, and are an important mitigation and adaptation strategy for climate change.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, Neihu C.Thur, commissioner & secretary, department of forests, ecology environment and wildlife, spoke about the community conservation areas and its importance and growing pressure on CCAs.
Keynote address was given by Dr S K Khanduri, IG Forests (Wildlife), ministry of environment, forests and climate change. He emphasized the need for resources to not only strengthen the efforts but also to sustain the ecological, economic and social benefits accruing from the CCAS. He clarified the weightage of 7.5% to forests in the 14th Finance Commission calculations for devolution of central resources is only the beginning of recognition of the state of forest in the economy.
Evolution of models and a policy on CCAs is needed to integrate community level conservation with sustainable forest management in Nagaland, he said.
I. Panger Jamir, additional principal chief conservator of forests, Government of Nagaland, welcomed the gathering.
Dr Pia Sethi, Fellow, TERI, gave introduction to the GEF-Satoyama project: Background, objectives & expectations. A recap of TERI’s work on Community-Conserved Areas in Nagaland by Siddharth Edake, Associate Fellow, TERI.
Community representative (Sendenyu/Sukhai/Khonoma/SriY.Nuklu Phom, Secretary Phom Baptist church Association) have given Perspectives on CCAs. Tokaho, DFO, Zunheboto spoke about challenges in initiating CCAs.
Later, there was discussion/question answer session taken by M Lokeswara Rao, PCCF & HOFF, and all participants gave their inputs. Concluding remarks were given by Dr J V Sharma, Senior Fellow, TERI and M Lokeswara Rao. Vote of thanks was given by Temjen Yabang Jamir, CF(Pub).
Officials from TERI, all forest officers, community representatives, and NGOs attended the workshop.