SUSTAINABLE MOUNTAIN DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT: OUTCOME OF THE DISCUSSIONS ON “FORESTS”

1. SUSTAINABLE MOUNTAIN DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT: OUTCOME OF THE DISCUSSIONS ON “FORESTS” A COHORT OF 65 FROM AMONG THE PARTICIPANTS OF SMDS – 3, KOHIMA, NAGALAND

2. Theme area 02: Forests • FACILITATORS • Saroj K. Barik • Rajesh Thadani • Vengota Nakhro • Zuthonglo Patton & • Chisayi with • Sanjay Deshmukh • TOTAL NO. OF CONTRIBUTORS: 65

3. General issues • ISSUES RELATING TO GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING • Earthquake prone region • Landslides prone • Flash floods • ISSUES RELATING TO PEOPLE • People are simple • Agriculture is marginal • Ready cash not available • Highly dependent on forest resources

4. Forest cover reduction: Reasons • BIOTIC • Demand for forest products, i.e., timber, fuel, fodder, herbs and flowers/ fruit • Free grazing • Fires • Insurgency issues • Issues of defining inter-state boundaries (that lead to biodiversity becomes nobody’s property in disputed areas) • Encroachment for agriculture, habitation

5. Forest cover reduction: Reasons • ENVIRONMENTAL • Seismic activity leading to landslides, subsidence • Flash floods • Fluvial erosion • Climate change • DEVELOPMENTAL • Dams • Road construction • Hydro-electric projects • Re-defining of forest lands for development • Mining • Atmospheric pollution - SPM, acid rain • Tourism

6. General issues • ISSUES RELATING TO LAND OWENERSHIP • Community land - managed by the village authority. • Private land • Headman as the sole land owner in some villages • Individual families owning the land • Clans ownership • Only elder brothers owning the land as in some villages

7. Concerns • LOCAL ISSUES RELATING TO FORESTS • Human dependence on forests increasing • Inadequate data on natural resources inventory which is not shared, not analysed and put to right use • Change in forest land use pattern (such as shifting agriculture, change for cash crops, etc.) • Dilemma between “conservation” forestry and “production” forestry while framing forest management policy • Contradiction in policies (felling of trees from community owned forests vis-a-vis those for shifting cultivation), due to lack of specific classification of forest types; need synchronisation • Forest Ecosystem fragmentation is taking place at rapid pace

8. Concerns • GLOBAL ISSUES RELATING TO FORESTS • Concerns of climate change and adaptations • Changes in geographic distribution of flora and fauna and in timing of seasonal events • Threat to high altitude biodiversity within forests due to presence of security forces (presence in large numbers) • Increased frequency of extreme climate events • Challenges in access to clean energy as well as conventional source of energy (fuelwood/ biomass) • Increase in man-animal conflict

9. Challenges • CHALLENGES TO FOREST MANAGEMENT • Conservation v/s development • Ecosystem services of forests not quantified and valued • Degradation and forest loss due to development projects • Governance challenges: weakening of community institutions, participatory forest management, etc. • Digitisation of forest boundaries • Enhancing forest quality • Upscaling of isolated success stories of traditional forest management systems, JFM and Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) • Codification and recognition of customary laws and practices

10. Strategies • STRATEGIES IN THE FORM OF ACTION POINTS • Development of a Portal for IMI • Linking forest patches to facilitate species migration (development of corridors) • Development of threat assessment protocols and in situ conservation models of plant species, and define conservation strategies for medicinal and aromatic plants • Establishment of market and industrial linkages to enhance the livelihood opportunities of local communities. • Strengthen role community organisations involved in forest conservation and management

11. Strategies • STRATEGIES IN THE FORM OF ACTION POINTS • Replication of models of “success stories” of forest conservation and management • Promoting and facilitating clean energy technologies with adequate energy provision for forest dependent communities • Promote diversification of livelihoods to reduce forest dependency • Enhancing forest-based biomass production in the form of food, fuel wood, grass/fodder, timber, bamboo, cane and NTFPs • Integrating forest management practices in academic curricula

12. Policy and Governance issues • DEVEOPMENT OF POLICIES FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE • Awareness and capacity building of stakeholders • Documentation of indigenous knowledge systems • Identification and protection of catchment areas of biodiversity as hydrological significance • Supporting and initiating actions on payments for ecosystem services, REDD Plus preparedness and define means for equitable sharing of benefits with the communities out of the incentives/ awards • Governance with regard to streamlining Forest Policies and Laws thereby bringing transparency in Forest Acts and Rules

13. Thank you so much!