By Biplab Kr Dey
TURA, May 21: One of the most beautiful places on the planet, the Nokrek Biosphere is not only the lifeline of the people that reside in it but also for the many villages and towns, like Tura, Williamnagar, Baghmara, that live off its rivers.
The vast Biosphere falls under three districts West, East and South Garo Hills and directly or indirectly is intricately involved in shaping the lands it is a part of. Locally, Nokrek is known as the heart and lungs of Garo Hills, providing it with vast flora and fauna as well as the most critical resource of all – water.
The total area of the Biosphere is so large that it is housed in three districts — South, East and West Garo Hills.
However, of late, the Nokrek Biosphere faces an existential threat from slash and burn farming as well as other human activities. While discerning the reason for the loss of vegetation faced by Nokrek may be a Herculean task, understanding where it currently stands will be as good a start as any.
What is the Nokrek Biosphere and why is it significant?
The Nokrek Biosphere comprises an area of just over 820 sq km of land. The UNESCO designated site comprises a core area of about 47.42 sq km, a buffer zone of about 227.92 sq km and a transition zone of over 554 sq km. While the core area is completely protected, farming and other activities are allowed in both the buffer zone and the transition zone.
Nokrek is not only home to the ‘huro’, red panda, Indian elephants along with many exotic flora and fauna, but it is also the source of three main rivers of Garo Hills — Simsang, Ganol and Didram. These rivers are the lifeblood of various towns that it flows through including Tura, Williamnagar and Baghmara.
Villages like Daribokgre, Oragitok and Sakalgre fall under the buffer zone while places like Selbalgre, Asanang and others come under the transition zone.
While the core zone of the Biosphere is being looked after by the state Forest department, the buffer zone belongs to the various Akings that live on these lands. These are not protected in any means by the state which only means that whatever happens on these lands depends completely on the people who reside there. Similar is the situation with the ‘transition’ zone.
The biosphere is extremely important for not only those that live within but also those that live outside of it.
The buffer zone was identified by the state government to act as a shock absorber for the core area so that all catchment areas remain protected. However, it is now the buffer zone that has been shocking everyone concerned.
According to reports, there has been large scale deforestation in the buffer zone mainly due to slash and burn farming, with large swathes of land being completely wiped off its vegetation in an effort to farm. However, what is significant to note is the fact that while lands have been cleared in the buffer zone, literally no farming activities takes place in those lands that have been cleared.
A recent visit through Oragitok to Daribokgre, including areas like Sakalgre, Sakal Aduma among others showed areas that have been stripped off its vegetation and yet despite being cleared for plantations, the land has been used for literally nothing.
“It is not being used for economic activities or for farming as you would expect. All of those lands cleared remain just as they were, denuded. This is rampant in all parts of the biosphere. From the looks of it, these forests are only being cleared so that people can collect firewood. Isn’t that an absolute waste,” asked social activist, Jaynie Sangma.
A visit to the upcoming Nokpante near Sakal Aduma found a nearby peak completely denuded of trees. From the looks of the peak, the denuding must have taken place more than 5 years ago but the land has not seen any human activity after it was slashed and burnt. All that stands in the place of those large trees and the once dense forests — are shrubs.
Daribokgre, which is turning out to be the fastest growing tourism destination in Garo Hills, too faces a similar issue. Even from the recently set up view point, one cannot help but notice shrubs growing in place of trees. Interestingly Daribokgre falls very close to the core zone of the Biosphere, showing that the buffer is literally being outrun.
So what does this mean to those connected to the biosphere?
The future does not augur well for residents in many places that are either directly or indirectly associated with the Biosphere. With a looming climate crisis at hand and the continued destruction of forest lands in the biosphere, the question of whether it is already too late may just be looming.
“Since 2014, we have begun to face severe summers unlike what it was prior. This has been a recent doing as most of the large trees within the biosphere have been mowed down. We have also seen rains becoming scarce. The question posed before us is whether we save our forests or allow those in our midst to clear areas for farming as that is what people are subsisting on,” informed the Nokma of Oragitok during a recent visit.
According to him, there were 20 requests by residents of his village for clearing forests to make way for agriculture in 2022 while this year, till date, 5 more have come to approach him for the same. The village has close to 40 households.
He admitted that the situation was getting grimmer by the day with even the local climate taking a major hit.
“We never really faced the heat of the summer. It was always cool in the summers and cold in the winters. Of late, since about 2014, there has been a drastic change in the local climate. We longer have cool summers. Further the water situation too is grim. There were so many large trees in the upper reaches of Nokrek (in the buffer zone) but those have disappeared to be replaced by bushes. It still seems green but these will not recharge ground water the way large trees did,” said the Daribok Nokma.
Alarmingly in Dura Kalakgre, which is close to the source of the Ganol river, at least three hillocks of forests have been burnt in March this year to pave way for farming activity of the villagers. The area was cleared after a meeting between the village residents even as the pressure for economics took over.
Just about a week ago, the Ganol near Dura Kalakgre had come down to a trickle, resembling more of a drain than the river that supplies water to the entire town of Tura. With rains playing truant, bad days are likely to become the norm rather than the exception.
The village, however, is not alone in clearing forest lands for agriculture. Similar scenes were sighted everywhere.
Daribokgre Nokma, BN Marak, felt the situation was not good for anyone but they had a duty towards each and everyone who lived in the village. The village only has about 32 households though the land left for farming activities is close to 500 hectares.
“We have been told not to cut trees by everyone. You name any department concerned, they have come to us to request that forest clearance be stopped but what happens afterwards. We need to survive and in the face of a lack of economic opportunities, we have to fall back on the one thing we have with us – our lands,” added Marak.
Daribokgre comprises more than 700 hectares of land, about 200 of which has been preserved as community forests. However, according to him, despite them keeping these lands as community forests, little support has come their way to ensure more such community forests are encouraged.
Various interventions, including those from UNDP, JICA among others are currently looking at ways to ensure that the trend of tree felling and forest clearance can be stopped and the biosphere preserved once again.
“The road forward is extremely difficult and will require patience. Everyone needs to work together to ensure the damage that has been done can be repaired. If it is not then I dread that the day when towns like Tura, Baghmara, Williamnagar, run dry is not very far away,” felt social activist Jaynie.