Nexus of Good: A participatory paradigm

The tool box of conservation has multiple tools and strategies to achieve the end goal. The law enforcement and protection toolkit is the primary driver of the mandate of in situ conservation in protected areas of the country. The laws of Indian Forest Act, Wildlife Protection Act and Forest Conservation Act have provided the legal bedrock for continued wildlife habitat with minimal human interference, paving the way for the prosperity of wildlife and biodiversity.

The state of Himachal Pradesh had previously made little use of this robust conservation tool, given the challenges of terrain and accessibility and the unique socio-economic character of the state with relatively better off resident population. Hence, the paradigm of wildlife conservation entailed modest engagement with the resident Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) population and solitary management and law enforcement of the area by the field-level forest staff under control of range officers.

The Shimla Wildlife Division, under the inspired leadership of this young Forest Service Officer, N Ravishankar, took an initiative to correct this anomaly and launched a programme of eco-development throughout various protected areas within its jurisdiction in the districts of Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur through a sequence of steps. As a first step, a list of forest-dependent villages and, within the villages, individuals and households were identified who had greater dependence on forests. Secondly, they were extensively consulted on the scope of livelihood generation, requirement of community assets, energy-saving devices, training/skill development needs and involvement in community-based eco-tourism.

A key part of eco-development is that of entry point activity which is the first point of interaction, and where trust and goodwill sprouts between forest department and the villagers. In this regard, entry point activities were planned for local communities on the basis of consultation held with them, and also examining the scope of income generation and alternate livelihoods.

A humble beginning in pursuit of eco-development in Chail Wildlife Sanctuary was witnessed, with the pine needle and food processing training held for women of villages in Eco Sensitive Zone of the sanctuary. This training programme witnessed enthusiastic participation of over 100 women from the villages adjacent to the sanctuary, many of them expressing their deep gratitude to the department and the wildlife wing for such an initiative. It was also pertinent to note that almost all of the women trained and skilled also mentioned that they were not been provided such skill development by other departments, hence making the initiative all the more meaningful. The majority of them were from socially and economically backward classes of society, lending greater footing to the training programme.

A similar initiative was launched in Shimla Water Catchment Wildlife Sanctuary, with a training programme organised for women of villages in Chamyana panchayat, falling in ESZ area of the sanctuary related to soap manufacture and food processing. The programme commenced on September 19.

When initiative was taken for eco development in Churdhar Wildlife Sanctuary and its surrounding habitation, the programme was greeted with great enthusiasm and vigour from the women. The sanctuary is a treasure trove of biodiversity, with 793 plant taxa with 748 angiosperms, eight gymnosperms and 37 pteridophytes belonging to 431 genera distributed under 143 families recorded in the area, apart from it being habitat for diverse mammals, reptiles and amphibians like the Himalayan Pit Viper and rare and endemic Assam Cascade Frog. However, the sanctuary faces a great deal of biotic pressure, given the fact that villages surrounding are socio-economically backward and heavily dependent on natural resources for fodder, fuel wood and grazing.

In this regard, the eco-development paradigm is a game-changer providing alternate livelihood for women and weaning away their dependence on livestock rearing, thereby creating a social fence for this biodiversity treasure. Initiative was taken under skill development programme for pine needle handicraft, dhoop agarbati manufacturing, knitting, stitching and food processing.

To provide market linkages to the produce, a separate module on available forward market linkages in the form of various HIMIRA shops set up by Rural Development department, cluster groups sale points, Eco Shops run by HP Forest Department and JICA, National and International Fairs, and e-commerce options are being conducted for the participants so that their learned skill translates to gainful income.

The Shimla Wildlife division also took initiative to hand over the eco shops under its control to women’s self-help groups in various places. A revenue sharing agreement was entered into for the handing over the operation and management of 3 of these shops. Two of these shops, one at the Himalayan Bird Park (Shimla) and the other at Renuka Ji lake and Mini Zoo are being run very successfully by the respective women’s groups. It has provided both the groups gainful sources of income and created livelihoods for at least 50 women who are part of the group.

The potential of eco development in galvanising community support for conservation cannot be understated in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Community support is essential in many of the protected areas which see regular influx of visitors, eco-tourism activities, challenges of fire protection, poaching and illicit felling. In such areas, it is imperative that the Wildlife Wing enlarges its team of soldiers of conservation with a wider informant network having a greater goodwill and desire for wildlife conservation. The long-term vision should be to get more and more good people on the side of forest and wildlife conservation and isolate the bad apples that threaten wildlife and habitat conservation.

Eco development as a conservation tool is also a shift in the paradigm of Wildlife Wing from an isolationist approach to a participatory one where people’s voices are heard and their livelihoods catered to, and not blocked by the protected area. Thus, people’s support for conservation and the dimming voice of the wild would enhance with the marriage of conservation with livelihood and income generation. It is hoped that this change in approach to conservation is met with renewed optimism by the department and the people, which would greatly strengthen the roots of conservation, taking the message of wildlife conservation to the masses. This would provide the people a sense of ownership in protected area management and reap political dividend on the cause of conservation, which is the holy grail for wildlife and forest conservation— by the people, for the people and of the people, celebrating the oneness of life on Earth.

The initiative taken by N Ravishankar and his dedicated team is a wonderful example of Nexus of Good. It presents a model that can, and should be replicated and scaled by other states through public-private partnership.

Views expressed are personal