By Maitphang Syiem
Terry Tempest Williams said, “To be whole. To be complete. Wilderness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” In this busy and fast-paced society our natural thoughts and rationality have been swayed by consumerism to such an extent that we have failed to realize that all sources and services we consume come from nature itself. The air we breathe, the protection we get, the water we drink, the soil we plough and many intricate things which are better left unexplored all come from nature. Therefore, pondering on the aforementioned thought, it clearly explains that we cannot be complete rational humans when we distance ourselves from nature. The wilderness wants to maintain the old long lasting fundamental relationship with us in the natural way. The connection is that, “all come from dust, and to dust all return” (Eccl 3:20).
The wilderness doesn’t ask us to perform, it asks us to be. It reminds us that we’re not separate from nature, but deeply connected to it. Chief Seattle a Native American Tribal Leader said, “the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth.” This statement emphasizes the inter-connectedness of all living things and reminds us that humans are part of nature, not its owners.
There are many aspects that the wilderness has given us and one of them is like an irreplaceable teacher relationship , “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you”. Job (12:7-10). The superpower has given us this living planet in accordance with the natural requirements, to live, to propagate and to also be earth stewards. So why don’t we ask ourselves if we are maintaining that relationship as earth’s stewards? Earth stewards do not need any official appointment because of the fundamental inter-connectedness established since time immemorial; the only step required is to feel that interconnectedness, which some may have realised while some may need adequate enlightenment.
In the context of our State Meghalaya, we are bountifully blessed with mesmerizing natural landscapes, biological diversity and species richness, this fact should be a motivation for every individual to inculcate earth stewardship and to realise the inter-connectedness we share with the environment. We may boast of all those natural aspects but our smallest actions are still not fully inclined towards that interconnectedness. That gap must be filled and this requires a gap analysis to understand what needs correction. In a consumerist society, development is an inevitable activity but at times development is marked by greed at the cost of nature. To counter such thoughts we need to introspect on M.K Gandhi’s quotes “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” We are indeed swayed by human greed without realising the sustainable needs. In recent times ‘Green’ and ‘Eco’ have become buzzwords but little do we ask whether these words comply with the law and also to the fundamental human-nature relationships? No doubt sustainable tourism is good and eco-tourism is even better, but we also need to understand the intricacies of how Green and Eco-sensitive it is, and if it helps to maintain that inter-connectedness?
In this context it is imperative that we dive into Participatory Planning, Policy Execution, Monitoring and Evaluation through a bottom-ups approach. Recently we have seen the media going rife with the issue of an Eco-Tourism Project in Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary, which is a notified Eco-Sensitive Zone. As common citizens we need to revisit history to understand how it became a National Wildlife Sanctuary (NWS) and Eco-sensitive Zone (ESZ). Prior to its conversion to a Wildlife Sanctuary, it was a Reserved Forest area which was constituted during the erstwhile British Regime vide a series of Government of Assam Gazette Notifications (Nos.- 4692, dated July 23, 1909, 2016, dated May 12,1913, 2017 R, dated May 12, 1913, 3463R, dated July 14, 1913, 3412R, dated November 14, 1933 and 864-GJ, dated February 14, 1939)
In 981 the Eastern side of the reserved forest was then converted into a Wildlife Sanctuary with an area of 29 Sq.Km vide Government of Meghalaya Notification: No.FOR.25/81/5 dated Shillong March 25, 1981 in accordance with the Meghalaya Forest Regulation as adopted by Meghalaya from the Assam Regulation 7 of 1891 and also by the powers conferred in sub-section (I) of section 18 of the Wild Life Protection Act 1972 (Central Act 53 of 1972). Now we also need to understand the difference between a Reserved Forest and a Wildlife Sanctuary. A Reserved Forest is an area which a Government can declare as per the powers entailed in the Indian Forest Act 1927 whereas a Wildlife Sanctuary is a part of the Reserved Forest declared under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. The steps taken to declare the Eastern part of the Nongkhyllem Reserved Forest as a Wildlife Sanctuary was imperative because the area exhibits high ecological, floral, faunal, geo-morphological and natural importance. It’s an important habitat of wildlife which will require collective responsibility to protect it.
The area is a host for over 50 species of mammals, 25 species of reptiles, 400 bird species and a bountiful floral species which are of ecological importance. Many important species such as the Hoolock Gibbon, Great Indian Hornbill, Clouded Leopard are found here in Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary. However, with some of the plant and animal species becoming rare, endangered or threatened, there is an urgent call to maintain that ecological inter-connectedness.
Habitat fragmentation is on the rise and particularly edge fragmentation which is a bane to conservation activities. In the context of the Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary this is detrimental hence we cannot allow the edge effects to begin and if it happens there can be irreplaceable human-animal conflicts which can break down the fundamental inter-connectedness. Therefore to counteract such impending impacts a concept of an Eco-Sensitive Zone is put in place, which acts like a buffer zone and this was declared around the Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary in accordance with the powers conferred by sub-section (1), clause (v) and clause (xiv) of subsection (2) and sub-section (3) of section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986), read with sub-rule (3) of rule 5 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 vide Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notification New Delhi, the May 7, 2017.
The ESZ of NWS has a total area of 202.87 Sq.Km and the extent of the ESZ varies from 335.07 metres to 8.43 Kilometres from the NWS boundary. There are about 30 villages surrounding the NWS. Briefly the ESZ extent, is in the North – from Lailad Village, Wt- through Ummar, Nongkynrih, Lailad- Tasku, East- Umling Territorial Beat House and South – Nongmahir, Mawpyrhut ,Sohjirang Village. For the knowledge of common public, the ESZ of NWS has strong legal implications and all activities are regulated and governed by the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986), the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (69 of 1980), the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927), the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 (53 of 1972). These laws are there to protect nature and we are not above them, but there are fundamental natural laws of inter-connectedness established since time immemorial by the Almighty which we cannot defile.
In the final analysis the choice is ours to make!
(The writer is a Geospatial Technology Expert)