By H Lato
Jaintia Hills, located in the eastern part of Meghalaya, is blessed with abundant rainfall and a picturesque landscape dotted with rolling hills, meandering rivers, cascading waterfalls and rich forests. The Jaintia tribes, also known as Pnar, are the original residents of these hills. It is one of the very few tribes in the world which still follow matrilineal and matriarchal systems. A person’s descent in this tribe is traced through the mother or maternal ancestors.
To the outside world, Jaintia Hills is known mainly for its rich mineral wealth. Never one would realise that Jaintia Hills is also home to rich diversity of wild flora and fauna.
The Narpuh Reserve Forests nestled in the eastern part of Jaintia Hills is one of the few places in the world where lush green multi-storied primary forests are still intact. These forests are an ideal habitat for several species of wild animals.
To ensure long-term conservation and scientific management of wildlife and their habitat, a part of the Narpuh Reserve Forests was notified as a wildlife sanctuary in 2014. The Narpuh Wildlife Sanctuary, having an area of 59.90 sqkm, is home to several rare, endangered and endemic species of flora and fauna.
As per the Champion and Seth classification of Indian Forests, the forests in the Narpuh Wildlife Sanctuary are classified as Khasi Tropical Hill Forests. Underneath the top story of tall trees of numerous species, forests in the sanctuary have luxuriant growth of epiphytes, mosses and ferns. The floor of these forests is covered with a thick layer of moist humus. Wide variation in elevation and topography from flood plains at 50 m above mean sea level to steep slopes culminating in hill peaks at 1,360 m above mean sea level creates a wide variety of habitats in the sanctuary.
In an endeavour to document the rich flora and fauna in this sanctuary, the Jaintia Hills Wildlife Division has undertaken a study to assess and record presence of various species of mammals by installation of camera traps at strategic locations.
The study has recorded presence of 41 species of mammals and around 15 species of bats in the sanctuary. There may be several other species of mammals, presence of which could not be recorded so far. The sanctuary is also a habitat for a diverse variety of butterflies. During the dry season, one can witness an amazing sight of butterflies of different colours and shades mud-puddling on the banks of rivers and streams.
The sanctuary is home to more than 400 species of birds, including three species of hornbills — the Austen’s Brown Hornbill, the Rufous Necked Hornbill and the Great Hornbill.
Notification of the sanctuary has provided a fresh impetus to conservation of wildlife and its habitat in these hills. The establishment of the sanctuary has not only brought conservation of the wildlife and its habitat to the centre stage but also increased availability of resources for conservation and improvement of wildlife and its habitat in and around the sanctuary in a focused and targeted manner.
Apart from the intensification of patrolling, funds are being used for construction and maintenance of salt licks, check dams, water holes, patrolling footpaths, patrolling camps, boundary pillars and reforestation of blanks and degraded areas by planting fruit bearing plants.
Threats
The rich flora and fauna of the sanctuary is under immense pressure. The presence of a variety of wild animals in the sanctuary attracts several poachers. The sanctuary is surrounded by few villages of Hmar and Biate tribes, known to be expert hunters. Except for an entry point at Sonapur, the entire sanctuary is inaccessible to vehicles and can be explored only on a boat or by trekking along inhospitable and rugged terrain.
Availability of only a few patrolling paths makes it extremely difficult for the limited number of field staff to prevent entry of poachers into the sanctuary. But the Forests and Environment Department, through its team of dedicated officers and frontline field staff, is making efforts to protect the sanctuary. Camps of poachers, whenever encountered, are dismantled and burnt.
Because of regular patrols, which sometime require field workers staying in deep forests for several days, the Narpuh Wildlife Sanctuary still harbours a rich population of several species of wild animals.
Efforts are being made to elicit cooperation and support of local communities in our efforts to conserve and protect wildlife and their habitat. The Voluntary Protection Squads have been constituted in fringe villages to enlist participation of youths for patrolling in vulnerable areas. In return, the Forests and Environment Department provides assistance to the local communities by creating small community assets like footpath and water supply and distribution of chairs, tables, torch lights, cooking utensils and stoves.
The rich floral and faunal wealth of the Narpuh Wildlife Sanctuary and the surrounding area is nature’s unique gift to humanity. However, the wildlife and its habitat are under threat. Many of the species, including tiger, which was known to exist in this area in the recent past, has become extinct.
Therefore, it is the duty of each one of us to take all possible measures to protect and conserve the wildlife in their natural habitat, to restock and restore healthy population of all those species which are presently under threat and also to recover and reintroduce the species which have become extinct.
The Forests and Environment Department has initiated several measures in this regard. Efforts are being made to utilise the existing resources in a focused and targeted manner.
Also, efforts are being made to turn residents of the surrounding areas into proactive partners in conservation of wildlife and its habitat.
The department is also preparing a proposal for inclusion of the area located in and around the Narpuh Wildlife Sanctuary as a biosphere reserve. This notification will provide due recognition and publicity to this biodiversity hotspot, which in turn will help the department to leverage adequate administrative, financial and policy support for better conservation of this landscape.
(The author is Divisional Forest Officer, Jaintia Hills Wildlife Division. Views expressed in this article are her own)
All photos sourced from authors