A Changing Landscape:
I work with WWF India, helping facilitate community-based conservation in Arunachal Pradesh. The state is rich in biodiversity and home to many indigenous tribes. It is acknowledged to be one of the most splendid, variegated and multilingual tribal areas of the world with an estimated 106 tribal and sub-tribal groups. 60% of the state’s forested area falls outside reserved and protected area categories, are considered as Unclassed State Forests (USF) and de facto remains under community custodianship; managed by the clans, traditional village institutions and individuals.
Tawang and its neighbouring district of West Kameng are predominantly occupied by the Buddhist Monpa tribe, who sustain mostly on agriculture and livestock husbandry. Chiefly agro-pastoral, the community subsists on livestock husbandry and small-scale mountain agriculture including rice at the low-lying valleys, barley, wheat, millet, maize and buckwheat; meet local demands of food and other religious requirements. In Tawang and West Kameng, large swathes of natural resources are managed by village institutions such as the Mangma and the clans. Farm plots, however, are owned by individual households collectively. These fields are located near the forests. Though there has been a transition to cash crops such as kiwi, apple and other horticulture products to meet emerging market demands, the pace and the involvement of the larger section of the community for commercial cultivation is slow. This is even more obvious in the remote locations like Zemithang valley which is situated in the north-western corner of Tawang district, and the majority of the people of the valley grow crops for their consumption only.
Migration, however, is an emerging issue. Over the past decade, traditional agricultural practices, though serving as a lifeline, are witnessing a declining trend as people are pursuing work in road repairing and other construction sites for cash income. Many farmers are also giving up on agriculture citing frequent crop depredation by wildlife.
The Fencing Solution:
The team discussed these findings with the community and started a collaborative initiative to fence crops, initially using a fishing net. This worked well at a few plots, however fishing nets were not effective in preventing wild pigs from invading crops. To resolve this, we added a single solar-powered wire with an energizer along with the fishing net at a height on par with the pig’s nose, roughly 40cm above the ground. The first such fence was piloted in Lumpo village of Zemithang valley. With small iterative steps made (i.e. installation of a high-configured energizer and battery to withstand the harsh climatic condition at the height of 2000m), the first fence was installed in May 2018. Thus far, it has been working well with minimal instances of human-wildlife conflict. The efficacy of the fencing solution encouraged other villagers to revive their crop fields. The installed fence in Lumpo village now protects farm plots of approximately 40 families, and the communities have cultivated and successfully harvested wheat, millets and seasonal vegetables for at least two seasons now.
Successful implementation of the solar-powered fence in Lumpo village provides a ray of hope to many villagers in Zemithang valley. Now, the community reaches out to the district agriculture department seeking support to cover more areas of cultivable lands. A similar model has been replicated by the Tawang district agriculture office in Khremu village, covering croplands belonging to more than 100 families.
According to the Anchal Samiti Member of Khremu village Shri Sonam Tashi, “the fence has been working well since it was installed in August 2019, and it is effective to prevent wild pig and other wildlife from ravaging crops”. “As the maintenance of the fence is the key to success, the village committee has decided to appoint two individuals to monitor the functioning of the fence regularly and conduct repairs if required. Both of them are paid an amount of INR 5000/- each per month from the village treasury. We are hopeful that if we can secure a means of irrigation, some of us in the village would try to plant two crops next year instead of the one” he added.
Strengthening Community Resilience:
Government intervention and support for small and marginal farmers to promote mountain-based agricultural practices is imperative. The restoration of agriculture practices would help facilitate community self-reliance, reducing external dependence on resources, and further, help enhance community resilience and preparedness for any potential crisis or catastrophic situation like COVID-19 in the future, or during common seasonal occurrences like landslides that take place in the monsoon. Securing farmlands through solar-fencing can bolster the agricultural production of a farmer, boosting confidence and halting outmigration in search of alternative livelihoods that may lead to additional pressures on biodiversity or food security.