Empower the guardians of the earth, do not rob them

Subject: Environment

Sec: Protected Area

Context:

In the southern region of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, there are seven small islands near Little Nicobar, labeled as “uninhabited” by government records but essential to the local indigenous Payuh people.

Details:

The islands, Meroë and Menchal—locally known as Piruiiand Pingaeyak—are traditionally owned and used by the southern Nicobarese indigenous communities.
These islands serve as crucial resource reservoirs, with their use and conservation deeply embedded in spiritual beliefs.

Nicobar group of Islands

Conservation colonialism:

In May 2022, the Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) administration announced plans to establish three wildlife sanctuaries on Meroë Island, Menchal Island, and Little Nicobar Island, disregarding indigenous land ownership and management systems.
Despite the presence of approximately 1,200 southern Nicobarese who inhabit and hold traditional rights over these islands, the administration claimed it received no objections to the sanctuaries, stating that no individual rights existed within the proposed sanctuary boundaries and restricting local access to these areas in the name of national interest.
This move exemplifies what is often criticized as “conservation colonialism,” where conservation efforts are imposed without adequate consultation or consideration of the indigenous peoples’ rights and traditional practices.

Masking an ecological disaster:

The decision to designate Meroë and Menchal Islands as conservation reserves has been criticized as arbitrary, with limited ecological justification concerning the actual populations of Megapode birds on Menchal and coral diversity on Meroë.
This move coincides with controversy surrounding the denotificationof the Galathea Bay Wildlife Sanctuary for a massive ₹72,000-crore development project on Great Nicobar, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Megapod birds:
- Also known as incubator birds or mound-builders.
- They are stocky, medium-large, chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet in the family Megapodiidae.
- All are browsers, and all except the malleefowl occupy wooded habitats.
- They are of three kinds: scrub fowl, brush turkeys, and mallee fowl or lowan.
- They are found in the broader Australasian region, including islands in the western Pacific, Australia, New Guinea, and the islands of Indonesia east of the Wallace Line, but also the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

Earth’s guardians:

Globally, indigenous peoples, who make up about 6% of the world’s population and steward lands that hold 80% of the planet’s biodiversity, are often evicted from their ancestral territories under various pretexts like development and conservation.
These territories encompass approximately 22% of the Earth’s land surface.
Indigenous communities are recognized as the original guardians of the Earth, possessing crucial knowledge and practices for sustainable living.

Source: TH