BY H H Mohrmen
In spite of all the bad press about the destruction on the environment caused by unregulated and illegal coal mining in the state and subsequently the blatant violation of the NGT order on ban and supply of coal from Meghalaya, a ray of hope penetrates the dark clouds to give people a reason to cheer. The year 2014 will also be remembered for all the initiatives taken to preserve and protect wild life in Jaintia Hills.
The most important news in environment protection in Jaintia Hills is the upgradation of Narpuh reserve forest from a protected area to a wildlife sanctuary. This is indeed a great achievement for the State Forest Department. It was a dream of all the DFOs past and present and the staff of the forest department in Jaintia Hills to see Narpuh reserved forest notified as Wildlife sanctuary.
The other positive development in the area of environment protection in Jaintia hills is the recognition of various community forests as community reserves. H Lato the Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife Division), West Jaintia Hills has entered into consultation with the different Kur, Raid and Dorbar Shnong and convinced them of the need to register their community forests as community reserved forests. The department till date has notified five community reserves, Khloo Thangbru Umsynphu (19.6 Ha), Khloo Pohblai Mooshutia (33.5 Ha), Khloo Langdoh Kur Pyrtuh (15.4 Ha), Khloo Blai Sein Raid Tuber (96.5 Ha) and Khloo Blai Kongwasan Khloo Blai Chyrmang. There are still many sacred groves or community forests in Jaintia hills, but a beginning has been made to at least register and map these forests. The idea of recognizing these community forests as community reserves is a brilliant one and the DFO said that the effort to map the sacred forests is also to establish the boundaries of the area and prevent possible encroachment on the forests.
Perhaps there are more than twenty sacred groves in Jaintia Hills which are called by different names in different places of the two districtz of the erstwhile Jaintia hills district. In some placez they are called Kloo Langdoh, while in others they are called khloo blai. In some Raid the community also preserve forest for cremation known as khloo thangbru and the trees in the forests are used purposely for cremation, but with the invention of ma Kambel Shullai’s Khnap Thangbru (environment friendly crematorium) very less wood is needed for cremation. Now different Sein Raids are offering even Khloo Thangbru as community reserves.
In the War Jaintia areas sacred forestz are called Tken and they are smaller in size and these are kept by the clans. While in the other parts of the Jaintia Hills, sacred forests are kept by the Raid and some are under the care and protection of the clans. Some of the sacred forests or community forests in Jaintia hills are listed below.
The two prominent sacred forests in Jowai namely Mooliksoo and Khloo Langdoh both of which are managed by the Sein Raid Jowai, while Moolikso is used for performing the final rites (thang mynso) of those who died an unnatural death. Khloo Langdoh like any other sacred forest is kept because certain rituals and sacrifices especially those connected with Behdienkhlam are performed in this forest. The other sacred forest is ka Khloo Rampyrthai on the banks of the river Myntdu.
The sacred grove in Ialong is also under the care and protection of the Sein Raid Ialong; it is sacred because sacrifices and rituals to appease the Gods like u Ryngkaw u Basa are performed in the forest. The unique aspect of the sacred forest in Ialong is that occasionally a bull is sacrifices in this forest. It is unique because in almost all Niamtre tradition in Jaintia hills, partaking beef is a taboo, but only Ialong Raij has this special bull sacrifice where at least on this one occasion people can eat beef. Again this has a story of its own which justifies why for once the Ialong were allowed to partake beef and kill a bull instead of other sacrificial animals. The sacred forest in Ialong also tells a story or rather the history of the village. The ancestors of the Ialong people like any ancient settlers lived close to the river and in this case the river Myntdu. So in the old Ialong village one has to pass through the forest to enter the village, but because of the frequent outbreak of a plague which almost swept the village clean, the people decided to move to a higher elevation and the old Ialong and the cremation ground became the sacred forest.
It is the same story with the Sacred Forest of the Sein Raid Tuber which is located in the Chohchrieh village and it is also located near the banks of the river Myntdu. Legend has it that earlier the village was situated close to the river Myntdu, but later on the villagers moved to the higher ground and the old village and cremation ground became a sacred forest. In Chohchrieh if one walks down towards the river one would also see collections of monoliths which are remnants of the old cremation ground. This is also another place where one can find a big collection of monoliths. In certain parts of this forest one has to walk barefoot and no items made of leather can be taken into the forest.
Very close to the Ialong and Tuber sacred forest, there are two more sacred groves one in Chyrmang and another in Iongnoh village and both these villages are under the Raij Chyrmang. In Chyrmang village the sacred grove is near the Aitnar or the place where the final part of the Behdienkhlam festival of the Raij Chyrmang is celebrated.
In the Elaka Raliang there are four sacred forests some of which are maintained by certain clans while there are forests that are maintained by the Elaka. The forests in Raliang are not as big in size in comparison with the forest in Chohchrieh and Ialong, but the Dalloi of Raliang informed that there are bigger forests in the elaka Raliang situated in the Khongchnong and Niawkmai village. The Daloi reported that recently some unscrupulous element attempted to encroach on the area of the sacred forests. Part of the famous harvest festival ‘Pastieh Kopati’ is also performed in one of the forests nearby known as Khloo Raid. In spite of being one of the biggest and the oldest elaka, Shangpung has just one sacred forest and it is now a shadow of its previous glory because part of the forest was given to the village to expand the village playground.
The sacred forest in Bataw village is unique because it is also part of the sacred lake known as ka Um Hang (much bigger than Wards Lake). It is connected to a folk tale of ka Hang Polok Suchiang the tragic tale of a young woman who met with a sad end. The sacred forest is also adjacent to the cremation ground and sacrifices are still performed on a regular basis in the area.
The sacred forest in Sohmynting village needs to be shared because the story of this forest is distinct from the stories of the other sacred groves. In the sacred forest mentioned earlier, the forest are maintained and protected by the followers of Niamtre. But sacred forest in the area where locals have converted to another religion have disappeared or are not properly maintained, or were even encroached upon by neighbours and in some cases even desecrated. But in Sohmynting although the entire village has converted to different Christian denominations, the forest was kept intact by the clan. There are two other smaller sacred groves, one in Mukhla and one in Mihmyntdu from where the River Myntdu originates.
In War Jaintia area the tradition of keeping sacred forests is different because the Tken are mostly kept by the clan rather than the community. There are two Tkens in Padu village, another in Pamchadong village and two in Kudeng. There is another tken in Sohkha Shnong, another in Nongbareh, Khonglah, Raid Buam, Raid Umlane and some in Nongtalang and in the eleka Satpator.
The notification of Narpuh Wild Life sanctuary and the many community reserves will not only help document and protect these sacred forests but most importantly it will immensely help in protecting the flora and fauna in the area. One only hopes that all the Raid, the Kurs and Dorbar Shnong will come forward and offer their forests for inclusion in the state community reserve project.