CULTURES OF CONSERVATION

The Thembang Bapu CCA in West Kameng has earned 22 lakhs through its CBT, thereby generating a corpus for its management committee. As the oldest CCA, the TBCCA has been running its CBT programme for 8 years in a row.

A significant amount of this revenue is utilised for forest patrolling to monitor illegal collection of minor forest products and hunting within CCA. The committee has drafted a benefit sharing mechanism, for incomes earned through such enterprises.

“Another important way in which sustainable livelihoods have been generated in Tawang’, Lham explains, ‘’is through the production of agarbattis or incense sticks. Agarbattis make an important part of community rituals, and before the setting up of the production unit, they had to be sourced from Kalimpong. Since 2016, agarbattis are being made from locally sourced material.’’

Along with building these relevant livelihood opportunities, the most significant achievement of the CCA system has been the securing of more than 1200 square kilometers of red panda and snow leopard habitat and the protection of forests. This is the largest area ever conserved voluntarily by any local community across India. This has been done solely by the efforts of the CCAs members who conduct regular wildlife surveys and patrol the demarcated areas to ensure that no illegal activity takes place.

LhamTshering and others have been instrumental in this process. As part of the process, the CCA members make a team of 7 people to conduct red panda surveys. They also patrol different areas covered under the CCA using GPS and camera traps and monitor for illegal activities. Another example of the success of the CCA model is the forests of Pangchen Lakhar CCA in Tawang, which were plagued by developmental pressures and commercialization of natural resources.

However, after the initiation of regular patrolling and monitoring measures, the CCA in PangchenLakhar has now managed to restrict and bring these under some control. A patrolling team comprising members of the local communities regularly collect and compile information on wildlife sightings, habitat description, and threats in the area thereby creating a vital database of species and threats in the area.

“But the journey of the CCAs has been far from easy’’, explains Lham. “Convincing various communities about the need for conservation activities and changing attitudes towards nature has been a slow process. Initially, the communities were even hesitant to be part of the tourism activities.

But now, there are efforts within the community to scale up the model. Patrolling and monitoring forest lands was also looked at with suspicion. But now, the people’s perception towards conservation has changed and the larger community groups come forward to take part in CCA framework.”

WWF-India is now working with the CCAs to scale up the model, which is also endorsed by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.

We have already completed the concept training and the management committee has already been formed. The aim is to slowly take the model to all of Arunachal.’’ says Kamal Medhi, Landscape Coordinator, Western Arunachal Landscape, WWF-India.

‘Amongst all the seeds of success that the CCA model has sown in Arunachal, one distinct fact stands out,’’ says LhamTsering, ‘’which is the collective power of the people .’’ The CCA model shows us, in simple but effective ways, that nature conservation is indeed ‘together possible’.

According to LhamTsering, ‘’what helps the model truly sustain and stand the test of time is the people’s participation in conservation process and promotion of long term livelihood as an economic incentive for conservation in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.’’ This is best reflected in the popular Community Based Tourism (CBT) programme.

In the Zemithang Valley in Tawang where LhamTsering is from, there are a few community run home-stays that are occupied by trekkers on long treks as well as short term tourists. Those running the home-stays have been trained as cooks, porters, tour guides & in hospitality management. “Initially, in 2007, the villagers were hesitant about hosting people in their homes as they didn’t feel confident. To raise their morale, the WWF-India team went and stayed in these home-stays. Today, the CBT programme is expanding and the home stay hosts are always busy’’, Lham says.

The ThembangBapu CCA in West Kameng has earned 22 lakhs through its CBT, thereby generating a corpus for its management committee. As the oldest CCA, the TBCCA has been running its CBT programme for 8 years in a row.

A significant amount of this revenue is utilised for forest patrolling to monitor illegal collection of minor forest products and hunting within CCA. The committee has drafted a benefit sharing mechanism, for incomes earned through such enterprises.

“Another important way in which sustainable livelihoods have been generated in Tawang’, Lham explains, ‘’is through the production of agarbattis or incense sticks. Agarbattis make an important part of community rituals, and before the setting up of the production unit, they had to be sourced from Kalimpong. Since 2016, agarbattis are being made from locally sourced material.’’

LhamTshering and others have been instrumental in this process. As part of the process, the CCA members make a team of 7 people to conduct red panda surveys. They also patrol different areas covered under the CCA using GPS and camera traps and monitor for illegal activities. Another example of the success of the CCA model is the forests of Pangchen Lakhar CCA in Tawang, which were plagued by developmental pressures and commercialization of natural resources.

However, after the initiation of regular patrolling and monitoring measures, the CCA in PangchenLakhar has now managed to restrict and bring these under some control. A patrolling team comprising members of the local communities regularly collect and compile information on wildlife sightings, habitat description, and threats in the area thereby creating a vital database of species and threats in the area.

“But the journey of the CCAs has been far from easy’’, explains Lham. “Convincing various communities about the need for conservation activities and changing attitudes towards nature has been a slow process. Initially, the communities were even hesitant to be part of the tourism activities.

But now, there are efforts within the community to scale up the model. Patrolling and monitoring forest lands was also looked at with suspicion. But now, the people’s perception towards conservation has changed and the larger community groups come forward to take part in CCA framework.”

WWF-India is now working with the CCAs to scale up the model, which is also endorsed by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.

We have already completed the concept training and the management committee has already been formed. The aim is to slowly take the model to all of Arunachal.’’ says Kamal Medhi, Landscape Coordinator, Western Arunachal Landscape, WWF-India.

‘’Amongst all the seeds of success that the CCA model has sown in Arunachal, one distinct fact stands out,’’ says LhamTsering, ‘’which is the collective power of the people .’’ The CCA model shows us, in simple but effective ways, that nature conservation is indeed ‘together possible’.