Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Friday, 11 August 2023
Nagaland Community Conserved Area Forum opposes Forest Act
Kohima: Following an emergency general body meeting of the Nagaland Community Conserved Area Forum (NCCAF), the forum opposed the Forest Conservation Amendment Act 2023 on Thursday.
As per a release, the meeting was held at Tourist Lodge Dimapur and was presided over by NCCAF Chairman Heirang Lungalang.
The forum maintained that the Act is not in the interest of the indigenous tribal communities of Nagaland as it challenges the land and forest rights of the people who have been its custodian since time immemorial.
“There is huge ambiguity over the definitions and provisions of the Act, putting the rights and security of the people at stake,” it said.
It said that communities in Nagaland have voluntarily come forward to take up conservation practices in their traditional ancestral lands to sustain and preserve the rich biodiversity resulting in the recognition and documentation of over 407 Community Conserved Areas in Nagaland, making it one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots.
NCCAF said that the provisions of the Act could jeopardise the traditional land ownership, threaten biodiversity and ecological security of the region.
As the Act allows all forest areas within 100 kms from “Borders”, “or line of control,” or “line of actual control” for strategic projects of National importance and concerning National security, it observed that Nagaland directly falls under these categories.
“The murky agenda of the FCA act is that it will surely weaken the decision and power of the state government, undermine community ownership of land and forest, and the village councils may become voiceless. This may result in the extinction of the rich biodiversity of the indigenous people, and ancestral birthright be devastated, annihilated just for the sake of development and security reasons,” it said.
The ancestral forest, which is the identity of the Nagas will be left for arbitrary diversion and decisions of the Central government as it excluded obtaining prior consent from village councils and local district authorities.
More than an environmental issue, it said that it is an issue of social, cultural and historical identity and amendment to an existing Act is “undemocratic and unacceptable”
The Forum made an appeal to all Naga tribal organizations and village
councils to take into account the seriousness of the matter and do
whatever possible to stall the Act, and to pressure elected
representatives to take it to the Nagaland State Legislative Assembly to
reassert the age-old traditional ownership of land and forests.
Amended Forest (Conservation) Act draws opposition in Nagaland
DIMAPUR, AUGUST 10 (MExN): The Nagaland Community Conserved Area Forum (NCCAF) and the Kezekevi Thehouba (KTB) have urged the Nagaland Government, political leaders, NGOs, student bodies, Church bodies and tribe organizations to raise their voices against the Amended Forest (Conservation) Act 2023 which was passed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha last week.
The Nagaland Community Conserved Area Forum (NCCAF) said that the Act is not in the interest of the indigenous tribal communities of Nagaland as it challenges the land and forest rights of the people who have been its custodian since time immemorial. There is huge ambiguity over the definitions and provisions of the Act, putting the rights and security of the people at stake, it stated in a press release.
It further pointed out that in recent decades, communities in Nagaland have voluntarily come forward to take up conservation practices in their traditional ancestral lands to sustain and preserve the rich biodiversity resulting in the recognition and documentation of over 407 Community Conserved Areas in Nagaland which is one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots. “However, the provisions of the Act could jeopardise the traditional land ownership, likewise, threaten the biodiversity and the ecological security of the region,” the NCCAF said.
The Forest Conservation Amendment Act allows all forest areas within 100 kms from “Borders” “or line of control,” or “line of actual control” for strategic projects of National importance and concerning National security, and Nagaland directly falls under these categories.
It expressed concern that instead of encouraging the indigenous people who are voluntarily conserving the environment, this will certainly devastate their efforts. The forum said that the Act would weaken the decision and power of the State Government, undermine community ownership of land and forest, and the village councils may become voiceless.
“This may result in the extinction of the rich biodiversity of the indigenous people, and ancestral birthright be devastated, annihilated just for the sake of development and security reasons. This will result in devastating affects on the people as well as our biodiversity,” it added.
The NCAFF cautioned that if the Act is unopposed by the people’s representatives, the ancestral forest which is the identity of the Nagas will be left for arbitrary diversion and decisions of the Central Government as it excluded obtaining prior consent from village councils and local district authorities.
“It emphasizes that more than environmental, it is an issue of social, cultural and historical identity and hence without due process of consultation with all concerned stakeholders for such an amendment to an existing Act is undemocratic and unacceptable,” it maintained.
A press release from the KTB pointed out that “The implementation of this Act will have far reaching disastrous consequences for the State of Nagaland, as almost all the geographical area falls under this Act.” The implication of this Act means enabling corporate giants to do business in the name of development by depleting our forests and is against tribal interest, the KTB said.
It asserted that “our land and forests inseparably define our identity in all the senses that this life- and- dignity- affirming word has come to mean to us.” “Given this indisputable reality, and the undoubted rapid realisation by the public of the sinister manner in which the Act was bulldozed through,” the KTB called upon Naga leaders to pause and take a hard look.
It however said that despite this grim scenario, there is still a ray of hope because of Article 371A of the Constitution of India which gives special provision in respect of the state of Nagaland. The KTB hoped that the Government of Nagaland will take this opportunity to vet the applicability of the Amendment of Forest Conservation Act 2023 by convening a special Assembly session immediately.
Meanwhile, it urged the Nagaland Government to reverse the State’s
reported decision to “start mono culture plantation of Palm Oil in
Nagaland.” Palm Oil cultivation on such mass scale will cause the rich
soil to lose its fertility and render water sources dry, amongst other
ill effects, the KTB stated. “Hence this signals the devastation of bio
diversity and disruption of our eco system. It has been established that
a single Palm oil plant requires more than 250 litres of water per
day,” the KTB said.
Thursday, 3 August 2023
Monday, 27 June 2022
Governor’s Award and State Level Essay Competition ceremony
Governor of Assam and Nagaland, Prof Jagdish Mukhi, his wife, CM Neiphiu Rio along with the Awardees- Tizu Valley Biodiversity Conservation & Livelihood Network Zunheboto and Kripa foundation, Kohima during the Governor’s Award ceremony at at Raj Bhavan, Kohima on March 17. (DIPR Photo)
Kohima, March 17 (MExN): A ceremony for the Governor’s Award and State Level Essay Competition was held at Raj Bhavan, Kohima on March 17. Governor of Assam and Nagaland, Prof Jagdish Mukhi in his address said, “Excellence is not a result of wishful thinking, sheer luck or happenstance. It is rather the culmination of concrete goals, hard and smart work aligned with those goals and judicious decisions.”
A press release issued by the PRO Raj Bhavan, Kohima said, Mukhi stressed that this awards have been instituted to honour and recognize the individuals for their exemplary initiatives and contribution to the society, besides reflecting the overall vision of the government to encourage citizens to achieve their aspirations.
He added, that the ‘Governors Award’ has been be conferred to three individuals in essay competition and two group winners in different categories- The Tizu Valley Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihood Network Zunheboto for Creating Social Awareness on Conservation of Environment and protection, the Kripa foundation, Kohima for Creating Social Impact and Awareness on Prevailing Social Ills and its Amelioration and the three winners of State Level Essay Competition - Mariam, Class 10 BHSS, Mankolemba, Loni S Shikhu, Mount Mary College, Dimapur and Yiben B Humtsoe, Wokha.
Congratulating the awardees he stressed on the importance of climate change and environmental degradation which pose a huge challenge to life. He said, “Today, we have an increasing number of global forums where we are discussing environment protection, biodiversity conservation, carbon sinks and green growth. And yet, despite extensive knowledge on the subject, we are witnessing receding forests area and shrinking of biodiversity to rapidly melting glaciers and ice caps, extreme weather events.”
He appealed that, efforts to spread awareness must be stepped up and each one of us will have to contribute to this task of conservation of nature and environment. This should become a people's movement, in which local bodies, civil society and NGOs should participate.
He also briefed on our National Environment Policy adopted in 2006 which promotes the adoption of cleaner technology and bio-friendly disposal of waste and the proposal to launch a massive afforestation project.
Mukhi also stressed on the damage caused by the social ills prevailing in our society, the menace of drug abuse is another grappling global challenge therefore, he urged both the Government and the civil society to ensure that the potential victims are made aware of the perils of drug abuse.
He also reminded that the best solution is prevention and we need to prevent people, particularly the youngsters from falling to prey to substance abuse.
Acknowledging the winners of the essay competition, he said, the winners today has illustrated a strong proficiency in writing. Their essays reflected the ability to develop a strong argument, to be clear and coherent, to achieve accuracy in language and form, and perhaps most importantly, the winning essays illustrated a capacity for critical reflection and creative thinking trending in our society.
Published in The Morung Express
Nagaland: Rescued pangolin relocated to natural habitat
Chanwang Konyak along with team members of TVBCLN releasing the rescued Chinese Pangolin at Sukhai community conservation area.
Dimapur, June 27 (EMN): Chanwang Konyak, resident of Satakha town in Zunheboto, rescued an endangered Chinese Pangolin from his locality and handed over to Tizu Valley Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihood Network (TVBCLN), which was later released at Sukhai community conservation area (CCA).
The TVBCLN team leader, Ivan Zhimomi, has acknowledged the good deeds done by Chanwang Konyak for finding the safest place for the endangered animals. He remarked that such noble gestures towards the endangered species should be followed by all responsible citizens of the state.
He further mentioned that the endangered species like Blythe Tragopan, Hornbill, Hollock Gibbons, Chinese Pangolin and Clouded Leopard should be preserved.
Saturday, 29 January 2022
[Commentary] Responding to ecological imbalance: Tokugha’s journey in conservation
By Chitra Sangtani on 28 January 2022, MONGABAY
- Nagaland has been witnessing a rapid depletion in forest cover and loss of wildlife in the recent decades.
- Compelled by the changes in his immediate surroundings, school headmaster Tokugha Sumi decided to take an active role in mobilising communities for conservation.
- Partnering with an NGO Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), he led the formation of the Nanga Greener Zone (NGZ) and the Nagaland Community Conserved Areas Forum (NCCAF), for community-based conservation which now has 23 members in Nagaland comprising 99 villages.
- The views in this commentary are that of the author.
Many things signal the imbalance of the natural world. For Tokugha Sumi, a school headmaster, a village council member and the son of the headman of Sapotami village in Nagaland, it was the loss of bird
sounds and the disappearance of various animals like monkeys, gibbons and hornbills from the forests. While Tokugha’s father and forefathers would rely on bird calls to predict the arrival of rain, wind and sun, newer generations had to abandon this practice. This is due to the dwindling number of birds around the village, and also because the sounds no longer correspond to changes in the weather. “They give the wrong signals,” Tokugha explains. “This is an ecological imbalance. We created this.”
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