|
| JFMC members of the Old Jalukie community area. Telegraph picture |
Jorhat, May 22: In yet another pat
to Nagaland for its conservation efforts, a village in the neighbouring
state has been awarded the India Biodiversity Award this year.
The award — Rs 1 lakh in cash and a
citation — was announced at Port Blair in Andaman & Nicobar Island
today on the occasion of International Day for Biological Diversity.
M. Lokeswara Rao, the principal chief conservator of forests and head of the forest force of Nagaland, told The Telegraph
that the joint forest management committee of Old Jalukie village in
Peren district was selected for the award under the co-management
category recognising outstanding efforts by the government-supported
community institutions.
The India Biodiversity Awards, instituted
by the ministry of environment and forests and the UNDP (United Nations
Development Programme), recognise the outstanding models of
biodiversity governance and the central role played by the communities
that are at the heart of any effort to conserve biodiversity.
The Nagaland forest department had nominated the joint forest management committee of Old Jalukie village for the award.
The Old Jalukie community biodiversity
reserve was locally declared by a village council resolution way back in
1986 and later the council signed an MoU for managing the reserve under
the joint forest management with the Nagaland forest department on June
15, 2012.
Rao, while congratulating the villagers of
Old Jalukie, said good practices implemented by the Old Jalukie joint
forest management committee was a good model and had set an example to
other community conserve areas in the state to follow such practices for
conservation of nature.
He said almost all the villages in Nagaland had community conservation areas since time immemorial.
“Community conservation management by
communities is a unique model in Nagaland and seeing the importance of
forests, villagers are conserving and preserving community forest areas
since time immemorial,” Rao said.
The India Biodiversity Awards received 150
nominations from across the country. The seven-member jury, chaired by
M. S. Swaminathan, arrived at a shortlist of 13.
Subsequently, desk review was followed by
on-site visits to assess these individual models based on parameters,
including effectiveness of biodiversity conservation, benefits to local
communities and institutional sustainability.
Nagaland was praised for the state’s effort in conservation and protection of Amur falcons last year.
Amur Falcons, the migratory birds, which
arrive at Nagaland every year, were well protected by the villagers
last year, with no reports of a single bird being killed. Till a few
years back, there were reports of large number of birds being killed in
the state. Three birds were also fitted with satellite tracking
devices.