By H H Mohrmen
Khloo Narpuh or Narpuh forest which is also known in the local parlance as ‘ki khloo wa ïong’ is one of the last patches of low-elevation evergreen forest still surviving in Meghalaya. But their future today hangs in precarious balance of intense development pressures on one hand and of sustainable conservation on the other. Right now the scale seems to be tilting rapidly towards development demands, particularly mining.
However, conserving Khloo Narpuh is critical not only because they provide critical cultural and ecological services but also because they are home to a number of threatened and endangered species. The globally endangered Hoolock Gibbon which is locally known as Hulu or Huleng (in Khasi) is one among them. Interestingly, it is this endangered animal – Hulu which can come to the rescue of Khloo Narpuh. It is but a plain equation, that by pledging to conserve the Hulu we also pledge to conserve the Khloo Narpuh, for a simple reason that if there is no khloo; there will be no Hulu. And by pledging to conserve the Hulu, and the khloo, we also conserve all other rare and common flora and fauna of the khloo Narpuh. The idea is to protect the Hulu, so that we can save the khloo, therefore the suggestion is to make Hulu the mascot of forest conservation in Narpuh if not in the entire state of Meghalaya.
We are well aware that trying to get the community to protect wildlife and conserving the forest is a challenging task and we also know that to achieve the twin goals of protecting the Hoollock Gibbon we need the support of the community. We were optimistic and decided to go ahead and organize an Appraisal and Action development meeting at Khliehriat and Sonapyrdi on February 24-25, 2016. We thought we were moving ahead in the right direction. The plan is also to project ‘Hulu/Huleng’ (Hoollock Gibbons) which is in the list of endangered animals as a mascot for conservation of community forests in Meghalaya.
To begin our journey we were glad to have with us Society for Urban and Rural Empowerment (SURE), Basin Development Unit East Jaintia Hills District Khliehriat, the Forest Department of Meghalaya and of course the support of the District Administration East Jaintia hills District. Through Dr Rajkamal Goswami, wild life scientist, and environmental activist the program was also supported by ATree and National Geographic Society. The workshop was attended by almost all the target groups except the representatives of the eleka Narpuh. Dr Goswami who for more than five years now had done an extensive study in the Narpuh forest, is also the main person behind the program. Goswami observed that in the entire Narpuh forest, Hulu occurs only in the community reserve of Sonapyrdi village. Goswami has estimated that there are only about two dozen Hulus in the wild of Sonapyrdi community reserve and considers that it is an endangered animal. Hence we have a lot to do the protect the gibbons.
Sonapyrdi is critical to the success of the entire project of trying to protect the last of the Hulus we have in Jaintia hills, hence as part of the program community mobilization and engagement is imperative. On the second day a trip was organized to visit the village and during our interaction with the elders of the community we were extremely happy to hear the Headman of Sonapyrdi, S D Lamare announcing that the community welcomes the idea of conserving the forest to protect the Hulu. He had during the meeting also requested the villagers to protect the animal by reporting to the headman if they know of any poacher. He was in favour of the project because it was also proposed that the major component in the conservation effort is to also to encourage Eco-tourism in the area.
The Hulus are noisy animals; they always make their presence felt for two reasons. It could either be a mating call or a call to mark their territory. In the workshop, P. Nongbri the Chief Wildlife Conservator reminisced his experience of hearing Hulu’s call in the many forests in different parts of the East Khasi hills and West Khasi hills, but when he visited the area now, the call of the Hulu has fallen silent. S D Lamare also added that for many years they have not heard the Hulu’s call anymore, but it was only recently that they could hear the them call again in the forest adjacent to Sonapyrdi.
Khloo Narpuh is rich in floral and faunal diversity; it is one of the few biodiversity hotspot of Meghalaya if not in the region. In his study Dr Goswami so far has been able to record the presence of 25 mammals, 160 birds and 410 butterfly specie from different habitats of Sanctuary. The different species include Capped Langur, Crestless porcupine, Red-headed trogon, Longtailed broadbill, Calotes sp., Trimeresurus sp., Kurixalus sp., Rhacophorus sp., Barilius sp., and Hoolock Gibbon. In his opinion future surveys may lead to the addition of more species to the list and urged people to conserve this pristine beauty.
In the workshop S. Lato the District Forest Officer Wildlife division clarified the misconception that people had on the proposal of declaring Narpuh forest as eco sensitive area. She had also proposed getting the Sonapyrdi community forest under the state government Community Reserve project to be able to protect the Hulu.
The Hulu has cultural significance in the Pnar context because they are canopy dwellers which rarely touch the ground. People believe that if it touches the ground it will die. It is believed that it is a taboo for the Hulu to even put its foot on the ground. The Pnar also have an adage with is related to the Hulu. They call a person with immense pride, ‘kam u hulu ym hoi de u toh khyndaw,’ meaning that a proud person is like Hulu who feels that his feet should not touch the ground. In other words that he walks on air.
Protecting the Hulu and conserving the forest are the two twin objectives but the goals cannot be met without the community participation. The suggestion arrived at meeting with the community was to encourage eco-tourism in the area which will in turn create employment avenues for the educated youth of the area. The project can be taken up by the Forest department, the Tourism department and the Basin Development Unit, Khliehriat in convergence mode. Another possible livelihood activity which can help the conservation effort is promoting apiculture. The huge Narpuh forest is already a big factor which can contribute to the effort. Beekeeping can be taken up by BDU Khliehriat in convergence mode with the District Commerce and Industries Centre which is a nodal agency for apiculture development in the state.
It is heartening to know that the villagers in the South Garo hills district of the state have pledged their support to declare the Balpakram-Nokrek-Siju wildlife complex as a world heritage site. The workshop which was held from the 23 to the 25 of February in Tura suggested the possibility of proposing the 300 square km area of elephant reserve as the UNESCO World heritage site. Till now Kaziranga and Manas National parks are only two World heritage sites in the entire northeast region and if Balpakram-Nokrek-Siju makes it to the list, it will be the first spot in Meghalaya to be listed as world heritage site. The silver lining in the entire effort is the fact that not only the Government of Meghalaya supported the noble idea, but the council of Nokmas in the area also extended their support to the project.
Hopefully the proposal to conserve Narpuh forest will also find support from all quarters and the goal of protecting the Hulu to conserve the forest will be achieved sooner than later.
“Protect the Hulu, Save the Khloo”