Background

North East India cradles a unique biodiversity which requires global attention to prevent any type of degradation. In spite of large number of conservation efforts going on, several critical issues still prevail in the region. Over exploitation of clan owned community forests is one major threat to the biodiversity of this region. Albeit all the legal restrictions, the traditional right of communities on the forest resources are unrestricted. Such a situation where the community owns the natural resources thus demands the development of community-livelihood oriented conservation programmes, to be implemented by conservation agencies.

Objective

Such programmes, with a long term vision will help in reducing the forest dependency of the local population, both legally as well as illegally. The region is also a hotspot of insurgency, violence and cross-border turbulence which further reduces the effectiveness of the conservation programs undertaken. Fascination of the younger generation towards the easy money mired with the under developed economy nurtures the law and order issues and insurgencies. Economic development of the communities is the best way to address these problems.

Activities

Establishment of a Food Processing Centre at village Sakpret, Tawang: A food processing centre was established at Sakpret. ITBP has supported the construction of the Rhododendron squash production center in many ways to make it a permanent food processing center, so that the villagers can produce different food products like jams and squashes from a variety of fruits produced locally. The funds from Civic Action Plan were used for the construction of a better processing center so that the community got the processing center as an asset along with wages of Rs 45,000 in a month. The work also intensified the unity among the villagers by providing a chance to the villagers to provide both labour and service for the benefit of the community wholeheartedly.

Establishment of a Food Processing Centre at village Sakpret, Tawang: A food processing centre was established at Sakpret. ITBP has supported the construction of the Rhododendron squash production center in many ways to make it a permanent food processing center, so that the villagers can produce different food products like jams and squashes from a variety of fruits produced locally. The funds from Civic Action Plan were used for the construction of a better processing center so that the community got the processing center as an asset along with wages of Rs 45,000 in a month. The work also intensified the unity among the villagers by providing a chance to the villagers to provide both labour and service for the benefit of the community wholeheartedly.

Establishment of a community mushroom production centre: Mushroom is one of the preferred traditional food items of the Monpa community of Arunachal Pradesh and is generally collected from the wild. The collection of mushroom from the wild is unsustainable and has high local demand. There is no proper documentation of the diversity and volume of mushrooms available in the forest area of Tawang district. Hence, even though only a few species are locally consumed as food, the collection can damage the biodiversity of the area. In this context, an ex-situ production of mushroom was planned under the project in Brokenthang village. A mushroom production center was constructed by the villagers for which the program provided daily wages to the community.

Establishment of a community handmade production unit at Sangti: Monpa community of Arunachal Pradesh has traditionally been preparing handmade paper since times immemorial. Historically, the documentation of religious texts and important personal and family records were carried out on paper made from Daphne papyracea. This practice which was widely carried out among Monpa villages in Arunachal Pradesh has presently shrunk to very few old members and Lhamas (Buddhist priests). Recent trends show that the practicing of the art of producing handmade paper is gradually dying out. Better marketing of the products is essential for the sustenance of the art, but training of more youngsters is another urgent requirement in this regard. Under the Joint Livelihood Enhancement Program, a community handmade paper making center was constructed at Sangti village. The women and unemployed youth of the village are being trained in handmade paper making by local experts in the initial stage.