Customs, traditions and the conundrum of environment (wildlife) conservation in Manipur
- Part 2 -

Rajesh AM *

Save Sangai' rally in connection with Wildlife Week at Keibul Lamjao National Park on Oct 03, 2014 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam

Ignorance of law cannot be an excuse. There are laws providing for conservation of biodiversity in general and wildlife in particular. The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and Biological Diversity Act, 2002 are few of them. Constitution of India imposes moral responsibility on the state to make necessary legislation to protect environment under Article 48A which was added to the Directive Principles of State Policy under the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act 1976. Article 48A states that The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country.

Just as constitution of India prescribes fundamental rights of citizens it also lays down fundamental duties under Article 51A added under the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act 1976. Art 51A (g), specifically deals with the fundamental duty of citizens with respect to environment. It provides “it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life and to have compassion for living creatures.  The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and Biological Diversity Act, 2002 provides legal protection to flora and fauna in India.

Similarly Jhum cultivation is destroying the forests and eventually the Biodiversity of our region. The present method of Jhum cultivation (with reduced Jhum cycle) cannot sustain and support for long. We must realize and change to methods of cultivation that improves health of forests simultaneously with improved livelihood of indigenous communities. There are many sustainable agricultural models charted out by many national and international agricultural research institutes for our region.

With the active support of the state and union government we can eradicate Jhum cultivation and save environment. Though the acts and policies related to environment (Wildlife) conservation are applicable to whole of Union of India its enforcement differs across regions due to complex socio-economic and cultural realities.

As past experiences portray, it may not be possible to bring sudden and drastic, warranted changes overnight, in the customs and traditions that are against the ethics of nature but we can make a beginning. We are all responsible enough to use ethics, philosophical, environmental and economical values to guide environment conservation in general with special focus on wildlife conservation. Let us not wait for the law enforcement agencies to get into action. Instead let us take proactive measures. Forest department of Manipur is not weak but the cooperation of the civil society is not very strong.

Few village authorities have taken decision not to allow hunting of any kind of wildlife in their surroundings. Such ecosystem should be created in all the villages to facilitate replication of such decisions. To bring about changes in anti-environmental especially anti-wildlife customs and traditions, cooperation of all the stakeholders in the society is fundamental.

Few outdated customs and traditions can easily be eradicated with the consent of concerned stakeholders through changes in livelihood pattern and diet. The permanent solution is for the indigenous people to combine their traditional knowledge with the new scientific knowledge in environment conservation. There are many folktales and traditional knowledge associated with wildlife. But over the years the memories are entirely of violent display of pride in hunting of wildlife. At least for the sake of environment (wildlife) conservation and our future generations we should focus on diversification of sources of proteins and nutrients to relatively renewable vegetative sources.

Through this we can contribute to fresh memories full of success stories in environment (Wildlife) conservation and attempt to remove past bitter memories. There is a need to ensure active supply of alternate substitute for wildlife meat (also known as Bush meat in tropical forests of Africa, Asia and South America) like fish, protein rich plants etc. Schools and other educational institutions have critical role in imparting awareness about environment (Wildlife) conservation. The curriculum should be enriched with topics from environment (Wildlife) conservation and regular field visits, hands on exercises and special talks by professionals can be taken up.

Through environment (Wildlife) conservation we are indirectly imparting lessons of Love, kindness, tolerance and respect for humanitarian values among students and younger generation. There is a need to keep check on transportation of wildlife and its articles especially in border areas. Efforts must be made to check the transport of wildlife products at the source of supply which will reduce commercial hunting. Awareness programs to vehicle owners and operators, various security agencies of state and union in identification of wildlife and its products, its handling and about conservation laws of the state, union and international conventions will be key to reducing the wildlife trade.

Publicizing and supplying alternative medicines to replace traditional medicines (with unproved curing properties) made of wildlife will save fauna like bear, snake, leopard, pangolin etc from jeopardy. Public boycott of all ornaments, dress out fits and other articles of human use made of wildlife and also entertainment programs utilizing wild animals are few other measures to save wildlife. One more immediate measure that can conserve environment (Wildlife) is to boost tourism which can reduce incidents of poaching and hunting by providing alternative livelihoods to the local people and also keeps the poachers and hunters at bay.

The ultimate solution is to create more number of protected areas with the active involvement of indigenous peoples and improving living standards through holistic development. International cooperation in the field of conservation will definitely make a difference especially in the South East Asia. Our focus should be to ensure that our customs and traditions do not interfere with Environmental (Wildlife) Conservation.

The world’s biodiversity is at the risk of human induced mass extinction which can be the first of its kind as previous mass extinctions were largely due to natural causes. Let us not become sinners by hunting down precious wildlife and not contribute to such large scale extinctions. Let us not hunt the wildlife just for the sake of hunting.

Let us pledge that no hunting of any kind of wildlife is permitted in our premises. Let us pledge not to buy and completely ban selling of wildlife articles in our surroundings. Let this be a humble beginning towards a historical goal of preserving (bio-centric approach) endangered environment (Wildlife) in our region for the future in the face of global warming and associated climate change. Let us make the spirit of conservation perpetual.

Concluded....