More at http://www.sanctuaryasia.com | Conservation Action
The author is consulting editor, Wildlife
Trust of India and founder-editor, Second
Skin Media, an editorial and design
agency focused on conservation content.nature of the park boundary suits
the villagers as well; they continue
to gather fuelwood and graze cattle
on forest land despite warnings that
the animals will be confi scated and
auctioned off. Indeed, Dr. Choudhury
shows me several spots where a
solar fence erected by the Forest
Department has been torn down, with
telltale hoofmarks leading in and out of
the forest.
"Our long-term goals in this
landscape are tied to our ability
to build a rapport with the local
communities," says WTI Sociologist
Sanatan Deka. "So, for instance, if we
seek to moderate the anthropogenic
pressure exerted by fringe villages
on forest land, we must do that in
a way that shows people we also
have their interests at heart." The
widespread distribution of Improved
Cook Stove units that reduce fuelwood
consumption is one way the project
team approaches this. Another is
through 'green livelihood' initiatives
like the one we're visiting: the Manas
Kanamakra Weaving Centre for
Bodo women.
Inaugurated in January this year,
the centre is located in Rangijhora
Forest Village in the Bodoland
Territorial Area District of Chirang.
Rangijhora lies cheek by jowl with
Manas Reserve Forest, which offi cially
became the fi rst^ addition to Manas
National Park following the issuance
of a gazette notifi cation last August.
situation here," he points to the park
boundary; "you can introduce harsher
punitive measures and install all the
solar fencing you want, but unless the
villagers themselves feel the need for a
hard perimeter for Manas, the situation
will not signifi cantly change. The
problem is that a whole generation of
people has now grown up around here
without seeing too much wildlife. Some
of them think a rhino is nothing more
than a really big cow!"
I know what he's talking about. I
have watched, incredulous, as a group
of teenage boys chase after a rhino
grazing at the park's edge for their
evening's entertainment. Just four
days prior, a man herding cattle in the
forest had been gored to death. Earlier
in the year a woman washing clothes
inside the park had been attacked and
killed by a wild buff alo. How many hard
lessons will it take for people to learn?
Perhaps too many.
Manas has awakened
from dark times
and is on the road to
its former glory. At
the moment though,
it must also persevere
through this night-
bitten dawn. udAt(This formal declaration marked the
culmination of one of the long-held
policy goals of the Greater Manas
Conservation Project.) Showing the
community that there are economic
avenues unconnected with the forest
is critical in such an area, which
does not yet have the on-ground
protection mechanisms that the rest
of the national park does. Working
with women, who are cultural change
agents and can infl uence the attitudes
of subsequent generations, is a
particularly eff ective way to do this.
"Our women are traditionally
very skilled weavers," says Sansree
Basumatary, the centre-in-charge, "but
this initiative is helping us extend those
skills into a viable business enterprise.
Women can make about Rs. 150 a day
in additional income by working four to
fi ve hours here. And we are proud and
happy because through the tie-up with
Agor Daagra Afad, our weaves are
now being appreciated all around
the country!"
"When we fi rst started working in
Rangijhora, the village had begun to
creep onto the other side of Manas
Road," Sanatan says. "Forest land was
being cleared, plots demarcated. All of
that has stopped now." We are back in
Bansbari, perched on the machaan near
Dr. Choudhury's house. A dark sea of
paddy, fi refl y fl ecked, ripples behind us.
"It comes down to an attitudinal
change from within the community,"
Dr. Choudhury underscores. "Take thePRANAVCAPILAPRANAVCAPILAAn alpha male gaur (above left) at an artifi cial salt lick at Buraburijhar Camp. WTI's Dr. Bhaskar Choudhury and centre-in-charge Sansree Basumatary
(above right) at the Manas Kanamakra Weaving Centre, a 'green livelihood' initiative to reduce community dependence on forest resources.