Introducing village on climate change

Ng Nashangva *

Summer landscape of Shirui (Siroy) Town in Third Week May 2014 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam

Unexpected climate change related catastrophes have been observed around the world every year and they are not impervious to the local climate. However, the cause and effect of climate change are not immediately obvious in an hour or a day, which is why we have overlooked its implications. However, numerous small continuous change build up and their consequences are drastic and volatile and directly intimidating our own existence. The infamous incidents like Tsunami around Indian Ocean in December 2004, flooding in South East Asian countries in 2013, and the unparalleled cloudburst in Uttarakhand in 2013, and the latest flooding in Jammu and Kashmir have caused unprecedented damage to the human life and property.

The damages were so devastating that the whole world watched in fright and the question hangs on how should we address to these disasters. Are they a natural disaster or an anthropogenic outcome? At this instant, we are in dilemma whether to safeguard or exploit the natural resources. It calls our prompt conscious actions, and this environmental consciousness demands our wisdom, knowledge and humanity. Global climate change is a complex problem, which although is a climate related issue but its effects are manifold touching every walk of human life. The international bodies have embarked on various steps to mitigate the global climate change. It is a multifaceted modern scientific endeavor.

The world first climate change conference was held on 12-23 of February 1979 in Geneva. It is one of the first major international meetings on climate change which was attended by scientists from wide range of disciplines. Consequently, it led to the creation of United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP) in 1988. The UNFCCC entered into forced in 21st March 1994. Its ultimate aim is to prevent dangerous human interference to the earth's climate system. The countries joined this treaty to cooperatively consider what they could do to limit average global temperature increases, the resulting climate change and to cope with its impacts.

By the year 1995, it was realized that the emission reduction provisions in the convention were inadequate so they launched negotiations to strengthen the global response to climate change and adopted the Kyoto Protocol which legally bind developed countries to emission reduction target. Today, it has 195 country members. The UNFCCC secretariat supports all institutions involved in global climate change negotiations. The Conference of Parties (COP) serves as the meeting of the parties (CMP) and the subsidiary bodies advises the COP/CMP.

The COP/CMP bureau deals mainly with the procedural and organizational issues and also have the technical function. The Government of Manipur too has established Environment and Ecology Wing under the department of Forests and Environment which acts as the nodal agency for planning, co-ordination and promotion for balance environmental laws and developmental programme in the state. It also meant for mass awareness, protection of fragile environment and enforced the Acts and Rules lay down by the Ministry of Forest and Environment. But this pledge is far from its target.

The village settlements in the past were small amidst the thick forest and they were eco friendly. The population density must be sparse and their daily necessities were abundantly obtainable from the forest yields. It's not surprising that the villagers knew so much about their surrounding landscape, vegetations, animals, birds, insects, and weather, season and water sources except the small microorganisms. They utilized them judiciously. The striking example is the indigenous cutting of firewood in right way in right season to regenerate sprout from the stump wound. They also knew the ecological importance of food chain operating in their paddy field in which the rice grain, mouse, snake and eagle are living in balance.

All these indicate their close relationship with their environment for their foods, clothes, timbers, fruits and energy. Moreover, most of their traditional knowledge are application oriented and have scientific substance too. One of the most amazing truth revelations is the eating of different kinds of insects, like hornet grubs as food supplements in which the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recommended for their high protein content only in the year 2014.

Other scientific methods are wine making using plant products, fermentation of food products, cleansing product from fruits, weaving using cotton, bamboo and fiber for their cloths and baskets, and wielding on iron works for their various equipments. Gradually, there was a shift from the hunter gatherer to the domestication. It unfolds different activities, what's more their population increased. Consequently, there rising demands may exert an enormous pressure on the resources.

Presently, there are several unusual phenomena occurring in the village environment and they are the manifestations of destruction of natural environment. There are story about leopard entering the homestead in Phalee village which they mystified as mythical story, but now it is inexplicably clear that it is linked with the habitat destruction, and consequently human-animal conflict. There might be unprecedented clearing of forest in the past which is proved by the existing 6x6 foot traditional royal bed carved out from a single plant!

Although, it is nearly impossible to set an average of the forest cover for those period, but inference from the presumptive evidence based on contemporary sources suggest that there was a large scale destruction of forest. There are jhum cultivations and tilling on the hills which is one of the main causes of soil erosion. It is so detrimental to the soil that continuous cultivation is unviable. There are series of landslides and sinking which are caused by deforestation and constructions.

It is also comprehensible that the common carp inability to grow in the paddy field is due to the lack of humus from the upstream water catchment area. Additionally, our planet is inter- linked, and there could be some effects from the other end of the world. Other than the village environment, the cities environment filthiness are so appalling that they reflect the picture of beyond repair and hopelessness and it tended us to think despondency of city dwellers.

There are scores of indication which substantiate the effect of climate change in local environment. Some changes are straightly resulted from the local activities, but some causes are still unknown. For example, why do birds like wild doves, swift, sparrow, and tirro (local name) are disappearing? For instance, there is stark variation in the blooming of seasonal spring flowers like cherry and wild pears on hills which herald the new sowing season, now bloom out of sync with the seasons which adversely affect the fruiting and the harvest. Some outcomes are not very prominent while the others are showing sign of distress and stress. For instance, frequent abnormal rainfalls have severely disturbed the agriculture and caused outbreak of epidemic diseases.

Many diseases of domestic animals, plants and birds along with unnatural deaths of wild animals are also reported from Ukhrul district but it needs to be authenticated because it could also be a poisoning from indiscriminate use of pesticides, weedicides or poisons. It is also observed that Naga grass is changing color from white to blue in the hills, but it could be a genetic cross hybrid until then we characterized this as the consequence of climate change. Unnatural death of many valuable plants and crops are also reported.

It is also reported that the leech and mosquitoes are started to thrive profusely in the hill villages which were not there in the past decades. This migration is a clear sign of changing climate. No doubt, this could be a boon for some crops but it can be havoc also. Currently, there are countless of changes, and what else could be possibly responsible for all these changes beside the most pronounce natural evolution and climate change, and could we mitigate these changes?

All these changes seem interesting but it could cruelly jeopardize the socio-economic life of the people. It might also lead to nature resources related disputes. One of the factors particularly responsible for it is the lack of conservation and preservation practice. Moreover, we are uninformed of the importance of biodiversity. We are not conscious of the importance of replenishment of renewable natural resources is as much important as sowing of paddy field in every Kharif season.

Even now, the greenery on the rolling hills belied the health of the natural surroundings, in reality they are unwanted seasonal grasses incapable to act as productive natural resources. In the past, the nature products were freely available and there was no pressure for owning the readily accessible resources, but this ownerless land system has also become a problem in the village to introduce biodiversity conservation.

Why does the village environment continued showing sign of distress and degradation when we can read the landscape, vegetations, season, weather and the character of wild natural resources? There is a need to educate and inculcate the people about preservation, conservation and management of the natural resources. This will help in mitigation of climate change which in turn will help in the realization of the world climate change conventions and protocols.

Moreover, there are many useful plants which have been used traditionally since time immemorial and they remained to be explored scientifically. There are many endemic and exotic plants, orchids, fishes, insects, animals and birds which need to identify scientifically. Additionally, there is a huge prospect of bio-prospecting the unexplored forest which harbors many useful microbes for drugs and agriculture technology.

The conservation of bio-resources will enhance food security as well as the aesthetic value of the region. Health related issues will also improved from air, land and water pollutions, and consequently raise the living standard. It will also minimize the unnatural disasters. It can become the lungs of the planet and also serve as the world lab. Moreover, it will increase our natural scientific resources for our future development. Climate change issue is one of the most complex problem ever face by the mankind that question our humanity, mindset and our level of wisdom and knowledge.

How could we be able to solve this problem? Most importantly, the inculcation of the culture of environmental consciousness is indispensable to mitigate the global climate change. Could the taming of climate change may unfold the mystery of our planet and give glue to our past and predict our near future? Will it redefine our social consciousness too?