remaining tigers against the rights of the resident people. Nor does our political and economic system assign a value to the protection of the biosphere upon which we all de- pend. Nevertheless, we must secure the guarantees of public servants and private actors that they will act with the respect and care due to the world’s remaining wildlife and to the rural people who co-inhabit these under-served areas.

Originally published as: Redford, K.H. and S.E. Sanderson. 2006. No Roads, Only Directions. Con- servation and Society 4(3): 379–382. Photo:

Kent H. Redford is Director of WCS Insti- tute, and Vice President of Conservation K. H. Redford K. Strategy, at the Wildlife Conservation Soci- ety, Bronx, NY, USA ([email protected]).

Steven E. Sanderson is President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, Yuqui hunters in the Bolivian Amazon NY, USA ([email protected]).

Shifting Livelihood Options and Changing Attitudes of Communities in the Garo Hills, Western Meghalaya Karthik Teegalapalli

he Garo hills in western councils, shifting cultivation, and intense The Garos belong to the Tibeto- Meghalaya in India comprise hunting pressure are some of the factors Burman stock; they drifted into eastern gentle undulating forested that thwart traditional conservation India through Tibet in 5,000 B.C. in slopes at the edge of the themes here. Further, in the last decade, search of fertile lands to cultivate. More Tcountry, adjacent to the Bangladesh mining and monoculture plantations than thirty villages, locally called akings plains. Although a significant portion of (e.g., cashew and citrus orchards), are interspersed between the Balpakram the state is reported to be under forest have replaced past occupations of National Park (220 sq. km) and the cover (ca. 70 %), ownership of over communities in the Garo hills, such as Baghmara Reserve Forest (44.4 sq. km) 65 % of land in the state by autonomous paddy and shifting cultivation. in the South Garo Hills district (Khan

18 et al. 1997). The landscape is mottled worldwide. Essentially agriculturalists, cardamom and coconut harbour low with patches of shifting cultivation the Garos have been practicing shifting animal diversity, comprising mostly fallows at varying stages of succession, cultivation for a few thousand years ubiquitous species, in comparison active farms, settlements, orchards, to grow rice, ginger, millets, tapioca, with natural vegetation types. In paddy fields in the valleys, and water- chillies, yam, and other vegetables in the terms of the socio-economic impacts bodies. The forests in the South Garo biodiversity-rich tropical forests of the of plantations, cultivating orange hills are significant for many reasons region. Research indicates that for jhum orchards has not improved the —they harbour species such as the cultivation to be at least economically income of people in the region, as tiger (Panthera tigris), clouded leopard viable, if not ecologically sustainable the plantations fruit only for two to (Neofelis nebulosa), Himalayan yellow- as well, the fallow cycle (period within three years and precious habitat for throated marten (Martes flavigula), which land is re-cultivated) should not wildlife is lost to such conversions. hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock), be less than a decade. For ecological Often, people clear larger tracts of serow (Capricornis sumatraensis), recovery following shifting cultivation, land the following year anticipating Asian elephant, Chinese pangolin a minimum period of 25 years for better profits. In the year 2004, (Manis pentadactyla), the stump-tailed birds, 30 years for frog and lizard encouraged by the North Eastern macaque (Macaca arctoides), and have communities, and 50 years for plants Council-funded Citrus Rejuvenation high levels of endemic floral diversity. It has been envisaged from jhum fallows Programme, several households is therefore imperative to conserve these in Mizoram (Raman et al. 1998; Pawar in the neighbouring West Garo lands to provide a buffer and corridors et al. 2004). However, in the Garo hills, Hills district abandoned jhum and for wildlife in the adjoining protected fallows are re-cultivated within 4-5 years established citrus orchards. The areas. due to increasing human population and decision was a disaster, and the unavailability of sufficiently old fallows, following year 51 households re- making the practice unsustainable for embraced their traditional practice both people and biodiversity. of jhum cultivation. Similar projects have been planned or initiated for A relatively recently proposed model cultivating areca nut and rubber in in this respect is to amalgamate jhum the region. cultivation with agronomical inputs, to assuage its impacts on biodiversity as Mining well as to improve productivity (Malik 2003). In the neighbouring West Garo The state is estimated to contain Hills district, it has been demonstrated about 600 million tonnes of coal that apart from rice, all the needs of a reserves and about 5,000 million few families can be adequately met tonnes of limestone. The detrimental Photo: Samrakshan Trust from homestead agriculture. Home impacts of coal mining on the The landscape with active cultivated gardens—plots ranging from 0.5 to 2 environment and people have been patches, fallows and secondary forests ha per family, used for cultivation of documented from Jaintia hills in the vegetables, medicinal shrubs and herbs, eastern tip of the state. Among other and trees for firewood—have also been impacts of rat-hole mining for coal, Jhum cultivation recommended. such as soil erosion, pollution of air and water, and loss of biodiversity, Shifting cultivation, also called forest Orchards—Monoculture plantations the region has also become perilously agrarian system or jhum cultivation in vulnerable to earthquakes. In the India, is a form of cultivation that has The impacts of shifting cultivation South Garo hills, the issue appears been practised across the world since can be considered to be relatively to be intensifying as each year the the neolithic epoch to the present age. benign compared to the impacts hills in the area are strip-searched Although this method of farming may of monoculture plantations on for coal. This is a particularly seem ecologically destructive, since it biodiversity as well as people. Many serious issue near the Siju Wildlife involves slashing and burning of forest, studies have shown that monocultures Sanctuary where the coal residue is it provides subsistence livelihoods of economically important species deposited in the Simsang river, which for at least 300-500 million people such as teak, rubber, areca nut, provides valuable fish and water

19 resource for the communities further Human-animal conflict the villages in the landscape. Promoting downstream. The sulphur in the coal responsible eco-tourism on these routes, residues renders the water acidic, The Garo hills harbour one of the employing locals as guides, and ensuring thereby affecting the fish-catch and densest populations of Asian elephants that the economic benefits of such the productivity of agricultural lands. as well as humans (about 53 persons / endeavours reach the communities will The major obstacle to mitigating the sq. km in the South Garo hills; Census alleviate livelihoods of at least a section impacts of coal mining in the area of India 2001) in the country. Data on of the communities. is that the livelihood of thousands crop-raiding by elephants collected of people is linked to the vocation. by Samrakshan Trust personnel  Sustainably marketing pottery, And the consequence of these lands between 2005 and 2006 in six of the textiles and basketry handicrafts, which being community-owned is that the akings indicate a twin-peak, one in the the Garos are adroit in producing, can Government is left with few avenues months of July-August and another also help improve the abject conditions to abate the damage. in November-December. These peaks of the communities of akings that are correspond with the harvest of summer remote and bordered by the Balpakram and monsoon rice, respectively. The National Park. Garos supposedly revere elephants and affectionately refer to them as  According to the management mama dalgipa (big uncle) and plead plan of the Balpakram National Park, with them not to raid their crops. inclusion of land from villages present However, five carcasses of elephants beyond the south-western boundary were recorded by Samrakshan Trust of the Park is still pending. This land, from various akings within a year2 if acquired, can provide an important and recently the Garos have started supplement to the Balpakram National consuming elephant meat. Since not Park and bolster its protection. A all elephant deaths get reported, this relocation programme that adequately is indicative of the high intensity of addresses the socio-economic and human-elephant conflict in the region. cultural issues involved will not only A fact that complicates the situation is provide the people from isolated villages that the Forest Department has been better amenities but will also ensure lax in disbursing compensation for better protection of the Balpakram Photo: Samrakshan Trust crops raided by elephants; INR about National Park. Mining close to Siju Wildlife Sanctuary 40 crore is the outstanding amount to be compensated till the year 2002. Acknowledgements: I am thankful to Samrakshan Trust Hunting Some feasible options and the staff at the Meghalaya field office for sharing information, for Systematic studies on the hunting A majority of the conservation issues the book-resources and the camera. practices of the Garos are largely in the Garo hills seem to have their Opinions expressed in the article are lacking. During the last two years, roots in the lack of environment- the author’s and do not reflect the Samrakshan Trust has been working friendly livelihood options for the views of Samrakshan Trust. I also with the communities in an attempt communities. Some of the practical thank the Garos for being exceptionally to improve livelihoods and get an alternate livelihood options for the hospitable—for cutting chicken for me idea of the human-wildlife and communities are: after only a few visits! the human-elephant conflict in the landscape. Hunting is likely to  Several interesting trails References: be relatively higher in the villages along the Simsang river, along the Siju adjoining the Balpakram National Wildlife Sanctuary, to the Chutmang Khan, M.L., S. Menon and K.S. Bawa. Park, where gunshots were often heard peak (tallest peak in the South Garo 1997. Effectiveness of the protected area and the skin of a Chinese pangolin Hills district: 1,023 msl) and other network in biodiversity conservation: a and a pet stump-tailed macaque were parts of the Balpakram National Park case study of Meghalaya state. Biodiversity encountered by the author. are available and can be accessed from and Conservation 6: 853-868.

20 Malik, B. 2003. The ‘problem’ of shifting cultivation in the Garo hills of north- Book Review east India, 1860-1970. Conservation and Society 1(2): 287–315.

Pawar, S.S., G.S. Rawat and B.C. Choudhury. 2004. Recovery of frog Resilience Thinking: and lizard communities following primary habitat alteration in Mizoram, Sustaining Ecosystems and People Northeast India. BMC Ecology 4: 10. in a Changing World. Raman, T.R.S., G.S. Rawat and A.J.T. Johnsingh. 1998. Recovery of tropical rainforest avifauna in relation to Brian Walker and David Salt. vegetation succession following shifting cultivation in Mizoram, north-east Island Press (2006). India. Journal of Applied Ecology 35: 214–231.

This article has been written by Karthik Teegalapalli for Current Reviewed by Fred Nelson Conservation. Integrative Thinking for a Changing Planet Karthik Teegalapalli is a Junior Research Fellow at the G. B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development ([email protected]).

Whenever we pick out any- plex systems. They tellingly use the thing by itself, we find it term ‘social ecological systems’, in hitched to everything else recognition of the counterproduc- in the universe,” noted John tive nature of treating the human and Muir“ over a century ago. As human biophysical components separately. knowledge grows and so does the As the group’s work has grown and complexity, not only of ecological expanded, they have developed a systems’ biophysical components web site and blog, a thick edited but also of their social, cultural, and volume describing their ideas called institutional dimensions, it has be- Panarchy (Island Press, 2002), and come increasingly apparent that our an open-access journal, Ecology and way of organizing knowledge along Society2. disciplinary boundaries—particu- larly the relatively hard boundary The Alliance’s latest effort, au- between social and natural scienc- thored by one of its leading sci- es—greatly limits our understand- entists (Walker) in collaboration ing of the world. with a popular science writer (Salt), Resilience Thinking, provides the During the past twenty years, most accessible introduction to an ambitious group of multidis- the group’s work, ideas, and con- ciplinary scientists called the Re- cepts. The authors’ objectives are to silience Alliance1 has emerged to provide “a plainly written account try and develop a truly integrative of what resilience is all about, and framework for thinking about com- how a resilience approach to man-

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