Study finds how community-based conservation efforts influence mammal populations in Meghalaya

Subject :Environment

Section: Biodiversity

Context:

Community Reserves (CRs), or protected areas managed by indigenous communities, are a useful instrument to balance conservation priorities and livelihood requirements of the communities, finds a study, which examines the importance of CRs for the conservation of mammal species in Meghalaya.

Details:

There are currently around 205 such community reserves in northeast India and despite being smaller in size, compared to protected areas, they offer a refuge for many species in the landscape.
The study notes that in India, over a third of the indigenous communities reside in the northeast.
- These communities have traditionally been hunting meat for subsistence. However, in recent years, their hunting practices have intensified to keep up with the demands of the wildlife trade.

Findings from the studies:

The study looked at five CRs in the Ri Bhoi district of Megahalaya, namely Jirang CR (JCR), Nongsangu CR (NCR), Lum Jusong CR (LJCR), Pdah Kyndeng CR (PKCR) and Raid Nongbri CR (RNCR).
Camera traps, reconnaissance surveys, and semi-structured questionnaire surveys were used to examine the diversity and abundance of mammals.
According to the paper, although hunting has decreased over time in this area, a lack of education and awareness about wildlife laws in the country may be contributing the idea that hunting in community forests is not illegal.
Habitat loss was attributed to practices such as illegal logging and shifting cultivation, along with forest fires.
These changes to the natural landscape have affected the abundance of mammal species in the area.
The populations of barking deer, sambar, and Chinese pangolin has been decreased while that of macaques, wild boar, elephant, and leopard cat are relatively stable.

Conservation and community reserve:

In India, protected lands that act as buffer zones, connectors, and migration corridors between established national parks, animal sanctuaries, and reserved and protected forests are considered conservation and community reserves.
The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act of 2003, which updated the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, created these types of protected zones for the first time.

Conservation reserves:

For the preservation of the land, sea, and habitat of fauna and plants, it is a state-owned region close to National Parks and sanctuaries.
A Conservation Reserve Management Committee is in charge of managing it.
Any property controlled by the government may be designated as a conservation reserve by the state government after discussing it with nearby communities.
The first conservation reserve in the nation is located near Tiruppadaimarathur, Tamil Nadu.
The village’s residents took steps to create a conservation reserve in order to protect the birds that nest there.
Residents of conservation reserves are not subject to any restrictions on their privileges.
India currently has 100 conservation reserves, which together encompass 4927.28 km2, or 0.15 per cent, of its total land area.

Community Reserves

Any community or private land may be designated by the State Government as a Community Reserve provided the inhabitants of that community or the person concerned consent to provide such areas for the preservation of the local flora and fauna as well as their customs, cultures, and practises.
The creation of such a place attempts to preserve biodiversity while simultaneously enhancing the socioeconomic circumstances of the local population.
The Reserve is managed by a community reserve management committee.
The State Government may designate the area as community land by notification if a community or a single person has offered to volunteer to conserve wildlife and its habitat.
Within the Community Reserve, no changes to the way land are used are permitted unless they are authorised by a resolution that has been approved by both the State Government and the Management Committee.
In India, there are 219 active community reserves, totalling 1446.28 km2, or 0.043 per cent of the nation’s landmass.