Forest Management Practices of the Tribal People

Forest Management Practices of the Tribal People

of Meghalaya, North-East India

BK Tiwari*, H Tynsong & MB Lynser

Department of Environmental Studies, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong 793022, India

INTRODUCTION

Forests are an important source of food, fibre,freshwater and construction materials for subsistence as well as cash income for the tribal people and act as ‘safety net’ in times of hardship (Wollenberg & Ingles 1999, Campbell & Luckert 2002). In the developing world, an estimated 80% of the population depends on non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for primary health care and nutritional needs (Chandrasekharan 1995). For these reasons, communities dwelling in or near forests have in the past ensured that rich and diverse forest areas are preserved and protected. Close proximity to these resources and their constant utilisation have enabled traditional communities to develop an understanding of the conser vation and sustainable utilisation of forests. This knowledge is expressed in the diverse cultural practices of the local people and forms part of their human heritage. Popularly known as traditional ecological knowledge, such knowledge is widely used by local and indigenous communities to develop various resource management techniques, rules and practices in order to ensure uninterrupted supply of forest products and other benefits from the forests (Phuthego & Chanda 2004). Traditional ecological knowledge in forest management practices is attracting greater attention of late because if it is combined with scientific knowledge, it can play a far greater role in sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services as well as increase forest productivity (Becker & Ghimire 2003).

Many important benefits have resulted from protecting relatively intact relationships between indigenous people and natural ecosystems. In many developing countries, for example in India and Nepal, a number of new local institutions, e.g. Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) and Forest User Groups (FUGs) at the community level have been established, while traditional local institutions have been strengthened to protect and manage community and village forests (Balooni et al. 2007). Success of local resource management depends very much on the status of local institutions; the weakening of such institutions often results in forest resource degradation and deforestation (Berkes et al. 2000, Watson et al. 2003).

The conservation of different types of forests is part of community conservation practices evolved over centuries and passed down from generation to generation. There is a great variability in the management practices followed by traditional societies as these practices have evolved under different biophysical and cultural environments (Nongkynrih 2001). There is a general lack of scientific research on the forest management practices of traditional and

tribal societies other than those concerning the sacred groves (Ramakrishnan et al. 1998, Tiwari et al. 1998), home gardens and agroforests (Cairns 2007). This paper examines various types of traditional forest management practices and associated institutional arrangements of the tribal communities inhabiting the state of Meghalaya in north-east India. The analyses included the role of traditionally managed forests and associated knowledge in the conservation of biodiversity and medicinal plants in particular. The study also examined the interdependence of forests and local health care systems among tribal societies of the state.