Arunachal Pradesh : Conserving the Nature, the Unique Way
By
Colonel Satish Singh Lalotra
The month of February 2021 saw me giving a long distance call to Mechuka in far off Arunachal Pradesh to wish a happy’ Losar’( Tibetan new year) to some of my erstwhile comrades in arms in SFF (Special frontier force) now settled after retirement in these areas of land of rising sun. These Tibetans from SFF have very easily blended with the locals of Arunachal Pradesh who were in fact the first point of contact and also the shelter givers to their forefathers when they were forced to make a humiliating exit from their homeland Tibet way back in 1959 along with their spiritual head the Dalai Lama, with Chinese border guards hotly on their trail.
On speaking to one of my ex company leader Nima Tsering, a burly Khampa who was with me in the freezing heights of Siachen and now settled near Mechuka, I sensed a new spring in his voice laced with lots of expectations. On further enquiry he revealed a fascinating account of human bonhomie and new found purpose in life which has been unfolding in the interiors of Arunachal Pradesh oblivious to rest of India.The unfolding of conservation of flora and fauna in the interiors of Arunachal with active participation of the majority of Adi tribes is something worth emulating the world over.
The excellent coverage of unflinching resolve to take measures in their own hands and do their own bidding to improve their lot in the interiors of Arunachal came out in the form of willful relinquishing away of their hunting rifles by the locals of Mechuka. An effort, which NimaTsering my ex company leader has all praise for so undertaken by them. Infar off Arunachal Pradesh where hunting has been a community practice steeped in history and culture, the giving away of their hunting rifles by the locals speak of a resurgent action laced with hope and optimism for the fate of conservation of flora and fauna in the land of rising sun.
For centuries the dominant ‘Adi tribe’ in Arunachal Pradesh, had been subsisting on the community practice of hunting which was a way of life for them. As per few anthropologists having lot of experience of working in the NE of India, these Adi tribes right from their birth take to hunting as a fish takes to water. This activity has been ingrained in their psyche right from inception stage as a means to survive in the unforgiving jungles of Arunachal Pradesh.Hunting activity in fact doubles up as a means of supplementing their protein requirements, gender roles and asserting control over their lands intertwined alongside with belief and spirituality.
The north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh also known as NEFA (North eastern frontier agency) during the British times covers an area of approximately 83,743 square kilometers. Out of this total area 80% is covered with forests where we have some 500 species of birds and animals and many more yet to be discovered. The dominant tribe of this state, the Adi tribes for whom hunting was their raison de’etre in their homeland have suddenly found a new love for modern weapons and gadgets to do their primary task discarding their time tested but old ways of hunting. The traditional way of hunting involved putting the ‘bamboo traps’ for the birds which ensured their catch but didn’t exterminate them altogether from the face of their land. But with the proliferation of air guns in even remote areas of Arunachal Pradesh like Mechuka, Tuting, Limeking, etc a virtual mayhem has been unleashed against the various bird species which is a big cause of worry for environmentalists as also the local tribals.
But here steps in the Arunachal Pradesh’s minister of environment and forests ,Mama Natung with whose intervention and initiative this ‘Air gun surrender ceremony ‘has proved a boon for the proliferation and thriving of these hapless birds again. As per Mama Natung, if we keep on killing these birds indiscriminately without compunction our forests will disappear. For the last few months Mama Natung’s team of environmentalists has teamed up with the district administration of Shi Yomi and in particular Mechuka as also other NGOs and CBOs /community based organizations on the ground to hold awareness drives.
Nima Tsering is one such enthusiastic participant in the awareness drives conducted across the length and breadth of Mechuka and nearby areas. On 17th March 2021, the initiative was launched at Lumdung village in east Kameng district where 46 air guns belonging to the local population were surrendered in a grand ceremony. In return the owners of these air guns were presented with a certificate of appreciation.
In a similar vein about 370 air guns were surrendered at Pasighat in an event attended by the CM PemaKhandu, union sports minister KirenRijju, and off course the quintessential Mama Natung to loud cheers from the surrendered populace. While the more than 420 surrenders of air guns have been a cause of celebration, this journey has been far from easy. In fact the Adi tribe in Arunachal Pradesh has an influential civil society group called as Adi Bane Kebang .This Adi Bane Kebang society has been promoting the initiative among the community with a new found gusto.
The popular sentiment against this noble cause led in fact to many social upheavals in Arunachal Pradesh with death threats too thrown in as an extreme measure played by these villagers. The nearest place Pasighat, from where most of these air guns have been procured after paying sums ranging from Rs 5000/ to 7000/ is a usual hub of hustle and bustle. I remember Pasighat as a sleepy little town on the banks of river Brahmaputra about 220 kilometers from Doom Dooma with a laid back lifestyle adopted by the majority of Adi tribe population inhabiting it. While overflying Pasighat from Doom Dooma it used to resemble like a speck in the vast inundated expanse of river Brahmaputra during the monsoons. But over the years it acquired the dubious distinction of supplying these air guns to the Adi tribe people at a very competitive price in the market which now only has revealed its deadly tentacles by way of ruining the environment balance in this sensitive border state of India.
Only this year on 08th Feb 2021, a three banded Rosefinch, a bird which is a resident of southern China and a vagrant in Bhutan was sighted and photographed by a team of scientists from Bombay natural history society (BNHS) in Arunachal Pradesh. The team comprising BNHS assistant director Girish Jathar and researchers Atharva singh along with Himadri shekhar Mondal published their findings in the latest issue of the journal ‘Indian Birds’. The new species of bird was found during an intensive survey of finches across the eastern Himalayas as part of an ongoing study which coincidentally has its survival attributed to air gun surrender ceremony. A male and female three banded Rosefinch were seen at Sela pass on the border between Tawang and west Kameng districts of Arunachal Pradesh at an altitude of 3,852 meters above sea level. The three banded Rosefinch belongs to the family Fringillidae, which are seed eating passerine birds with a distinctly conical bill. The very fact that these seed eating Chinesebirds have started mushrooming goes to prove the efficacy of the air gun surrender ceremony which is in vogue nowadays in Arunachal Pradesh. These three banded Rosefinch birds are using the high altitude coniferous forests of Arunachal Pradesh as a passage while migrating from China to Bhutan.
With areas like Mechuka, Tuting, Limeking etc well within the coniferous zone of forests of this state, it shows how well the initiative taken by Mama Natung has started showing its results even to an agency like BNHS (Bombay natural history society) which has given its stamp of approval by saying in so many words in its research paper that this bird has been spotted at an altitude higher than its recorded perch in China. In other words the conservation efforts have started yielding results.
But with the air gun surrender phenomenon gaining traction in the coming months people have started noticing the change in the environment and its surroundings and its profound effect as a whole. Delayed rains, longer summers, which effect their crops have been the bane of tinkering of the nature by all of us. Nima Tsering my Ex company leader while narrating all these changes on the telephone brought me back to my days of tenure at this far flung frontier of India tinged with a sense of guilt , since I too was partly involved in shooting down some fowls, pheasants etc at Mechuka forced by circumstances when for days together supply of fresh items like vegetables, fruits etc used to be snapped due to inclement weather with our only life line the ARC hepters resting at Doom Dooma instead of taking to the skies in our direction. But as per NimaT sering it used to be real uphill task to convince these Adi tribesmen to lay off their gun for the overall betterment of the nature since life’s expediencies mattered more to them than these subtle efforts at nature conservation.
Like rest of India the wildlife protection act apply to Arunachal Pradesh too, but many times it does not translate on ground. But then the air gun surrender initiative being a more local driven one, its chances of success are more as compared to enforced by outsiders. In a country as diverse as India, its steps taken at the local levels which will turn the tide in people’s mentality in nature conservation.
