By H H Mohrmen
When I was intimated about my being nominated as a member to the State Wildlife Board my initial reaction was to politely reject the nomination, as I was not sure if the Government is really interested in protection of wild life in the state. Then my friends, the officers in the Forest Department in Jaintia hills who believe that I can contribute to the cause convinced me to accept the same and I attended the State Wildlife Board meeting for the first time on April 12, 2016.
My doubt was confirmed on the very first day when the meeting started discussing the proceedings of the last board meeting which was held in January 28, 2011. The State Wildlife Board should meet at least once a year but the SWLB in Meghalaya met five years after the Board last met. I immediately considered resigning my membership from the Board and asked myself what I was doing here? I thought if this was the speed at which the Board is moving then I am afraid by the time the next Board meets our job would be done because by then there would no more wildlife to protect.
Then I realized that even the Chairman of the Board was visibly perturbed by the speed at which the Board is moving, and it was the interest shown by the Chief Minister on the issue of protection of wildlife and conservation of the environment that had convinced me to continue with the membership of the Board. This was the first time that I had a close interaction with Dr Mukul Sangma and I can say that I found him pragmatic in his approach particularly on the issue of wildlife conservation. Right from his opening address and throughout the meeting the Chief Minister emphasized on the need for community participation in any conservation effort. Dr Sangma is correct when he says that people would not have any interest in protecting wildlife unless they see that it benefits them or helps them earn some revenue from conserving the environment.
Dr Sangma also emphasised on the need to promote adventure and eco-tourism in the few spots in the state identified for conservation so that the local community can make a livelihood out of protection of wildlife and conserving the environment. And it was a pleasant surprise for this writer when Dr Sangma cited the example of Shnongpdeng as one such model where conservation and Eco-tourism can complement each other. The Shnongpdeng model has been able to achieve the dual goals of conserving the aquatic life in the river Umngot which includes catfish, as well as create employment avenues for many people which ultimately benefit the community.
It is also true that many tourist spots have emerged in the state and apart from the already popular destinations like Sohra, Smit and Shillong, new destinations like Mawlynnong and Shnongpdeng have attracted tourists from the country and even from the different parts of the world.
It is also perhaps not out of place to mention that now the important discussion in the state has shifted from extractive mining to tourism and conservation and it was none other than Dr Sangma himself who had led this exchange of ideas from the front. The state is blessed with a beautiful landscape and the rolling hills with many forests and other wildlife habitats. We only need to develop more tourist spots to be able to attract more tourists to the state. The emergence of new destinations will also provide the visitors opportunity to spend more days in the state apart from offering varieties of tourist attractions for visitors with different interests. We already have locations for culture tourism, trekking trails, rural tourism and we may also add nature camps and other adventure related activities to the list and the list is endless.
Coming back to the Board, at some point of time in the meeting I felt like we were doing a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) analysis of the status of wildlife protection in Meghalaya. Brian D. Kharpran Daly the renowned speleologist and president of the Meghalaya Adventures Association (MAA) in his presentation took the meeting to the underbelly of mother earth and introduced us to the rich biodiversity of the cave’s fauna. Brian in his presentation informed that MAA in its annual expedition has not only surveyed and mapped the caves in the state, but during the expeditions known as ‘caving in the abode of clouds,’ the cavers have also been able to document faunas found in a few caves in the region. The fauna found in these caves are unique and some of them are present in these caves and are also endemic to the region only
Dr Sangma also reminded the Board about the different species of butterflies found in the state which needed to be documented. During the discussion he was informed that only in Narpuh forest Dr Rajkamal Goswami had documented more than 420 species of butterflies in the area. Dr Sangma also stressed on the need to do more to make people aware of the rich biodiversity wealth of the state.
Meghalaya indeed has a potential to develop as a major eco-tourism destination in the country but what is it that prevents the state from achieving that goal? One hopes that the people of Meghalaya will realize the potentials and make the best use of the opportunities available. Hopefully the SWLB will also be able to take the community along in its efforts to protect wildlife as well conserving the environment and make Meghalaya a popular tourist destination in the future.
One of the important agenda of the meeting was to allow the NHAI to rehabilitate and upgrade the existing portion of the national highway 44 part of which passes through the Narpuh wildlife Sanctuary to 2-lane road with paved shoulder. We were informed that no new area was acquired from Narpuh Reserve Block –II, and only improvement works will be undertaken i.e. 7 meters existing black topping between km 141.500 to km 145.000 and 7 to 10 meters between km 160.000 to km 167.100.
The meeting was also provided with the letter from Prakash Javadekar Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India to P. Tynsong Minister for Forest and Environment Government of Meghalaya in which it was stated that in order to have better management of wildlife and their habitats, especially in areas where roads pass through such habitats, the ministry, after consultation with the Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife, had issued guidelines dated 22nd December 2014 to all states/UTs. The guidelines clarify that ‘the case of resurfacing and strengthening of existing roads, not involving widening within protected areas will be possible without reference to Standing Committee of National Board of Wildlife.
Based on the above letter and the recommendations of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife, the Meghalaya State Wildlife Board has agreed to allow the NHAI to go ahead with the work of strengthening of the Jowai-Khliehriat-Ratacherra-Malidor road which is also known as NH 44. The delay in the repair of the Jowai-Malidor portion of the NH 44 was criticised by those who use the road; one wonders if the sitting of the SWLB was not convened just to enable the Board to provide the NHAI the necessary papers to enable it to go ahead with the much delayed project.
But the other concern is also more about the SWLB becoming a body which merely gives clearance to projects like the NHAI road construction and also later to issue NOCs for coal and limestone mining in the state. One hopes that the next meeting of the Board will be convened not only to give clearances and issue NOCs but will have more time to discuss issues of wildlife protection and the environment. If the government is serious in its efforts to protect wildlife one also hopes that the SWLB will not take another five years to meet again.