Together We Thrive

 

Conservation science is an interdisciplinary subject.  It is more or less the combination of biological, social, political, and economic matters.

 For a successful conservation program, it is necessary to balance among the different stakeholders so that everyone can win. However, the contentment of different stakeholders on different issues in the conservation process is very difficult.

It is a great responsibility for project designers to tradeoff with the communities on different matters to meet the conservation objectives.

In India, all the protected areas are surrounded by diverse communities with numerous social issues. Almost all these protected areas situated in geographically remote locations.

Therefore, it is necessary to look into communities and related issues before designing programs. It is proved always that the involvement of the community is crucial to achieving a successful conservation program.

As a biologist, I did not have much experience dealing with social matters. I also thought that my job was limited only to monitor the rhinos and other wildlife.

However, gradually I understood that to create a safe environment for the rhinos, I had to go among the people and don many hats apart from being a wildlife biologist.

I was the only person to lead the entire thing in the field with my three field assistants. I had to cover more than 500 square kilometer areas every month so my job was not easy.

For monitoring purposes, I used to spend 4-5 days in particular areas and then again shifted to another location.  Sometimes I got involved with both wildlife and social matters.

A section of the villagers used to argue with me about the purpose of rhino translocation to Manas as after the translocation, the security was briefed up and people were not allowed to move inside the jungle. This meant an end to the foddering for the nearby villages and a blow to their livelihood.

Nevertheless, after the translocations, rhinos often depredated paddy crops in

adjoining areas of the park, and that created a discontented situation. There were instances when our roads were blocked by a mob demanding we return the rhinos to their original homes.

These incidents would make me depressed and disturbed for several days. I came from a different part of Assam and different backgrounds. The surrounding villages speak local dialects that were sometimes illegible for me. Those unknown words and harsh tones made me think about a mutual solution.

I was also relatively unaware of the traditions and cultures of people around the Manas. Initially, some festivals like Lord Ganesh Puja, Sabha, Manasa Puja, and some other unique rituals are related to jungles were new to me.

As a solution, I started visiting different villages with my field assistants and forest staff. I also visited daily and a weekly market to know what people need across the Manas. Visiting local markets give me a lot of ideas about the area.  I was also able to make some friends and get an invitation to visit their villages.

All the villagers were cordial but they were too skeptical about me if I approach with forest staff. I, therefore, started to visit the villages with my field assistants as two of them belong to the nearby village areas.

First, I used to visit all the local festival events and try to acquaint my face to near villagers. Besides Village heads, each village helmets has village committees. I often visited to president and secretary of the village committee’s houses and finally established a formal relationship with them. 

Sometimes I request them to accompany me to travel to nearby towns to buy their essentials. One-night, two villagers from Kahibari village visited our camp.

It was raining and they called me loudly. My field assistant opens the door and they hurriedly entered inside with anxious mode. They requested me to support our field vehicle to carry an emergency woman patient to the hospital.

The hospital was 22km distance from that location and the road was pathetic. They offer me rupees three hundred as fuel charge but I politely refused and I requested my field assistant to help them immediately.

The villagers went away with my field assistant. The next day morning, they informed me that their patient was out of danger and no need to worry about her. This was one of many incidents where we helped villagers in many medical emergencies.

Those were the icebreakers to build a relationship of mutual trust and respect with the villagers. They helped us during rhino strays, provided food, and took turns to guard the villages in case of rhino and elephant stray during the nights.

In another case, some cattle ranchers, whose cattle would often graze inside the park, would inform us about rhino sightings. One particular male rhino even got associated with buffaloes and spent the night at cattle sheds.   

These group people were too helpful for us initial days. However, all cattle sheds were closed down at the request of park authority as their cattle damaged the habitat condition of the major parts of the central range.

Following days, I arranged small interactions with small groups. We started showing bioscope with wildlife documentaries and popular movies with a message during local fairs.

Gradually, we started to play a major role in any local fair in the surrounding areas. We were overwhelmed with the villagers’ participation and enthusiasm.

This feat was not easy and quick. From distrust and possible mob attack to mutual respect and trust, it took us three years and numerous efforts to assimilate with the community to build a good village network all across the Manas NP.

We still have a strong connection with the entire villages near Manas. Now after a decade, the community is thriving with sustainable livelihoods. Their forest dependency has decreased significantly and as a result, the rhinos and the other wildlife habitats are also thriving. Let me give you some examples.

With the thriving wildlife, tourism activity in the area has increased and helped many of the villagers to become self-sustainable.

When the rhino program was started, only 2-3 private jeeps were there to provide wildlife safaris inside Manas. The number has increased to 200 jeeps, which means 200 families are providing services to the tourists and earning their livelihood.

Similarly, only two tourist lodges were there in Manas before but now more than 20 lodges. The villagers who once scolded us for the rhino reintroduction now started homestays and proudly explained their involvement in the conservation programs.

This development gave me much pleasure and I believe we are getting our effort and hard work paid off.

I believe with the support of the community all other stakeholders can create sustainable conservation initiatives everywhere.