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Review

Tragopans, dilemmas and other horned creatures: why should communities care?

1* 2 MALIKA VIRDI and EMMANUEL THEOPHILUS 1 Sarmoli Jainti Van Panchayat, Munsiari, District Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, India 2 Himal Prakriti, Munsiari, District Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, India *Correspondence author - [email protected]

Paper presented at the 4 th International Galliformes Symposium, 2007, Chengdu, China

Abstract The primary objective of this review is to describe and analyse the efforts of two village communities to conserve the Galliformes within village forests that are owned and used by the villages, as well as in adjoining Reserve Forests. The communities often have to make ‘expensive’ decisions regarding restraint and regulation of the use of such forests, but attempt to do so through collective action in a manner that reconciles livelihoods needs with conservation action. The review describes the biological diversity within the forest areas belonging to the villages, and analyses the nature and effects of anthropogenic pressures on that biodiversity. The strategies adopted by the village communities, through their Village Forest Council or ‘Van Panchayat’, are then discussed. These strategies encompass a wide diversity of elements that are required to address the complexity of the problem. Broader strategies have also begun to be deployed, such as the initiation of cooperation with other village communities and with state partners. The review finishes by discussing the manifest divergences between proclaimed global ecosystem values, and local use-values, as well as divergences on the moral economies of subsistence, and those of the global marketplace, and the need for reconciliation of these in conservation strategy. We believe that community level conservation efforts must favour local ecosystem use-values, while also integrating local and non-local ecosystem values to give needed synergy between such conservation ideals, and to be practical applications.

Keywords Conservation, local communities, livelihoods, Van Panchayats.

Introduction Even under these conditions of scarcity, the Van Panchayat 1 of the two villages has resolved to The villages of Sarmoli and Jainti in the Gori protect the van murgi (literally forest-hen, but River Basin of North Kumaon, India comprise also a generic term for pheasants and 330 households, but only 34 ha of village partridges) that live in the village forest and forest, as support-area to meet their essential reserve forest. Hunting and trapping of the survival needs of fuelwood to cook and heat birds has been prohibited by the village, and their homes, grazing area for their livestock, regulations relating to forest disturbance have hay stands for winter-fodder and leaf-litter for been issued to protect the birds’ habitat. With farmyard-manure to sustain agriculture. There such an insufficient area of village forest, how are various estimates of the area of forest can these two village communities be at the required to sustain one unit of subsistence forefront of van murgi conservation? Two agriculture, ranging from 1:6 to 1:15 (Rawat, questions come to mind here; firstly, is this 1998). With far less forest area available than perhaps a community participation initiative of any of these estimates suggest, the villages the local Forest Department or that of a also intensively use the Khalia Range Reserve conservation Non-governmental Organisation, Forest where they have limited rights of use for driven by project funding? Whose values are subsistence farming, such as grazing livestock driving this effort? Secondly, what does this and collecting wood for fuel. The communities need to range for considerable distances to meet their resource needs, or modify their 1 A Van Panchayat is a Village Forest Council, an elected agricultural production to adapt to the body, vested with the responsibility of managing a Village surrounding resource scarcity. Forest as a commons, for meeting subsistence needs of fuelwood, small timber, fodder and leaf-litter for farm-yard manure.

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initiative mean in terms of action and results? criteria that include the presence of threatened For example, after a village has resolved to and endemic bird species 2. conserve, when are actions thought to be adequately enforced and long-standing The Sarmoli-Jainti Village forest is situated just practices sufficiently altered to 'make a after the first rise of the Greater Himalaya, in a difference'? There are also deeper political region called Munsiari in Pithoragarh District of concerns regarding the extent to which the the Uttarakhand Himalaya. The 34 ha of forest community is homogenous in its values and ranges in altitude from 2,300 – 2,800 m and resolve. includes vegetation types in the transition level between warm-temperate and cold-temperate. The setting Khalia Range, the adjoining reserve forest, extends through cold-temperate to sub-alpine Wild birds and animals frequently have to share and alpine vegetation types up to 3,747 m. their habitat with human communities, even in This altitudinal range yields a high diversity of designated sanctuaries and National Parks. habitat and, consequently, fauna and flora. The However, in a landscape such as the Gori River village forest and 20 km 2 of the reserve forest Basin in the western Himalayas, where 72% of have been designated as a Conservation Area the land area is under the tenure of villages as by the village community. This is a larger village forests and common grazing land and expanse than that used regularly by nearby only 14% is under official protected status village communities and includes a south-facing (reserve forests and a portion of the Askot sub-alpine and alpine cliff area which is known Wildlife Sanctuary), the necessity for to be a favoured nesting site of Himalayan community conservation can be significant. monal Lophophorus impejanus . This 20 km 2 is Some of the largest and most pristine patches also home to a further nine galliform species, of forest and alpine areas in the Gori basin are satyr tragopan Tragopan satyra , cheer governed by local Van Panchayats and several pheasant Catreus wallichii , koklass pheasant villages in the region each have more than 100 Pucrasia macrolopha , kalij pheasant Lophura km 2 of forest under their Van Panchayat. leucomelanos , Himalayan snowcock Tetraogallus himalayensis , snow partridge It is useful to understand why the Gori River Lerwa lerwa , hill partridge Arborophila Basin contains such a rich biodiversity. The torqueola , chukar Alectoris chukar and black Basin is 120 km long and, on average, 25 km francolin Francolinus francolinus . wide and ranges in altitude from 560 m to 7,400 m, and so also exhibits a complementary Human land-use in the conservation scale of climates from subtropical to polar. The area basin encompasses three latitudinal bio- geographic zones, Lesser Himalaya, Greater Three kilometers from Sarmoli village is a road- Himalaya and Trans-Himalaya. The average head bazaar called Munsiari and a cluster of annual rainfall varies from 15 cm to 300 cm. nearby villages. This area has the densest Longitudinally, the basin falls within the human population within the river basin (2,669 transition of flora and fauna from both the people registered in the 2001 census). Until eastern and the western Himalaya, containing trade ceased with Tibet in 1964, Munsiari was a various elements of both. The very rich small staging area for trading caravans. The biological diversity can be seen by the fact that area is now becoming a hub of urban the river basin contains more than 2,190 development with a rapidly increasing human species of angiosperms. population due to the location of the sub- divisional administrative headquarters, an The unusual richness of biodiversity has Inter-College and other offices of various recently become more widely recognised. Two companies which are constructing hydroelectric of the ten most valuable areas for biodiversity projects along the Gori River. in the western Himalaya identified by the Biodiversity Conservation Prioritisation Project People in Munsiari and the neighboring villages of WWF-India are in the Gori river basin (Rawal still depend largely on fire-wood for cooking & Dhar, 1999). The basin has also been fuel and heating living spaces. All of this wood designated as an Important Bird Area by the Indian Bird Conservation Network, as an area which is prioritized for conservation under 2The designated Important Bird Area (IBA) is the Askot Wildlife Sanctuary and the Goriganga basin. IBA Criteria: A1 (Threatened Species) and A2 (Endemic Bird Area 128: Western Himalaya). The IBA Site Code is :IN-UT-02.

74 M. Virdi and E. Theophilus comes from the adjoining Khalia Reserve Forest ecology of the nature, extent and intensity of and from the Sarmoli-Jainti Village Forest, current forest use, which is dictated by existing exerting further pressure on these forests. livelihoods options. It is clear that unless the intensity of these driving factors subside, the We attempted to estimate the human-induced current path of habitat degradation is likely to pressures on the conservation area in 2006. continue. We found that while only 12 villages have a legal right to use habitat within the Khalia Methods and strategies developed Reserve Forest, 41 villages grazed 553 livestock in the area in the monsoon season. In addition, Since 2004, a series of meetings and 11 seasonal buffalo-camps brought around 200 discussions have taken place to evaluate the cattle to graze the reserve for a six month current state of the Van Panchayat and the period. need to ensure that it continues to sustainably meet the villagers’ subsistence needs. These Seventeen herds containing 2,445 sheep and discussions produced the following broad goats were also grazed in the forest throughout strategic consensus: the monsoon season, as well as an even larger Protecting and improving the overall number of sheep and goats from herds passing productivity of the village forest area and en-route to alpine pastures further north. Nine prioritising the greatest needs of the nearby villages, housing nearly 3,000 people, community is an important requirement. intensively use this forest to meet their Hay for winter fodder was agreed to be the subsistence needs for fuel-wood, fodder and most critical requirement and some areas leaf-litter. Bamboo collection (mostly where succession vegetation have taken over Thamnocalamus falconeri and Phylostachys will be cleared. jaunsarensis for thatching roofs, weaving baskets and mats, and staking runner-bean Due to the proximity of the village forests to crops) and lichen and medicinal plant collection increased tourist traffic at Munsiari, the (mostly Pichrorhiza kurrua and Aconitum Sarmoli-Jainti Community can attract heterophyllum , as well as Cordyceps sinensis ) reasonable volumes of bird and animal- for trade also draws a large number of people watching tourists to visit the forest. Keeping into the forests, which exerts a considerable such tourism community-based could disturbance as well as extractive pressure on provide earnings to many village households the area. through home-stay facilities, and provide local employment as trip organizers and Hunting and trapping Galliformes only happens guides. occasionally and at a small scale. Commercial The community need to conserve the hunting is not known to occur and all birds diversity and beauty of the forests (such as taken are used to supplement the hunter’s food the grand old-growth oaks and yew trees) source. Firearms are used for hunting and and the spectacular wildlife that they contain trapping is carried out using foot snares and (such as the pheasants and partridges) to nooses made from horsehair or fishing line. ensure that the area remains attractive to Hunting often occurs in combination with other visitors. forest activities, such as livestock grazing or plant collection. It does not appear to have The neighbouring Shankhadhura Village directly affected Galliformes but it certainly Forest is contiguous with the Sarmoli-Jainti contributes to the overall pressure. The Forest and Khalia Reserve Forest and greatest direct threat to the birds probably together they constitute a discrete comes from the disturbance of brooding hens conservation area. However, the and their nests by nomadic shepherds and their longstanding boundary dispute between the sheepdogs. two villages needs to be resolved before such a partnership can take effect. The major pressure on galliform species in the Cooperation with the Forest Department is entire river basin is forest loss as a result of critical because the Khalia Reserve habitat fuelwood collection, forest disturbance and constitutes the largest and most critical part habitat degradation in general. Competing and of the forest block in combination. conflicting human use of the forest, particularly in the scale and nature of resource extraction, Nine villages with a total human population is clearly an issue. However, the root of the close to 5,000 have forest-use rights in the problem lies deeper in the larger political Khalia Reserve. Some of these villages are very close to the forest resulting in more

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intensive use, while others are further away managing trips for nature and adventure and only graze their livestock seasonally. A tourists. regulated agreement of forest use between Rejuvenating a pond in the village forest that the villages would be required. is dying from eutrophication. The pond is Galliformes will be used as umbrella species deeply associated with local folklore and a for wider conservation effort. This is relatively accessible tourist site for day- because they are among the most walks. Nature trails will be created with view spectacular fauna to be found in the points marked. conservation area (satyr tragopan and Education campaigns. A Nature Himalayan monal in particular). Also, by Interpretation Centre has been created and a protecting their habitat, the habitat of other school out-reach programme initiated. Bird associated fauna (such as serow Capricornis guides and mountaineering and trekking sumatraensis and musk deer Moschus expedition guides, porters and camp-staff chrysogaster ) that also inhabit the forest. have been employed. While the threatened Himalayan black bear Selenarctos thibetanus is also among the Coordinating with the Forest Department, animals whose habitat overlaps with that of and building bridges of partnership with the Galliformes, enthusiasm among the neighbouring communities, particularly those village community to conserve this species is where previous relationships have been very low because of their frequent predation hostile, such as the next-door Shankhadhura on villagers’ livestock. Village. Significant strides have already been made on this front. Future

collaborations on nature and adventure Results and work undertaken tourism projects are hoped.

In an attempt to engage with the various areas Monitoring programmes of the nature and of community conservation action, the following intensity of existing land-use, the status of actions have been undertaken by the Van the habitat and the seasonal presence- Panchayat: absence dynamics of galliform species will be initiated.

Enhanced Protection through watch and ward. Discussion Enforcing the regulations for forest use, with particular relevance to conserving The conservation efforts discussed have been Galliformes and their habitats. Regulations initiated because of community discussions on include prohibiting the felling of favoured the larger issues of enhancing productivity and roosting trees and maintaining the the scope of non-extractive forest use. connectivity between feeding and refuge Regulatory and governance decisions were patches. initiated long before any financial assistance was forthcoming from sources outside the Enforcing a community ban on all galliform community. Even physical activities such as hunting for three years. While the hunting of the home-stay programme, training of local any bird or animal is deemed illegal, every guides and porters, and planting regeneration forest dwelling or nearby community has its were completed with resources volunteered own extra-legal stance as to whether they from within the community. The progress and support or oppose this law, hence a local ban commitment of this initial work attracted of hunting is also necessary. financial assistance from the Ministry of Propagating plant species which Galliformes Environment and Forests and the Uttarakhand are known to depend on, such as Kharsu oak State Forest Department for further Quercus semecarpefolia and Phylostachys collaborative work with the Indian chapter of jaunsarensis bamboo. the World Pheasant Association. These funds enabled a portion of a Community and Nature Initiating and maintaining a community- Interpretation Centre to be built, the pond to be based nature tourism enterprise that expanded, basic amenities for tourists to be increases awareness of the value in provided and seasonal monitoring of galliform conserving Galliformes and their habitats. species and their habitats to be conducted. This includes the establishment of home-

stays and employment through guiding and However, such assistance is normally short- lived. These small and local conservation

76 M. Virdi and E. Theophilus efforts, when viewed in the context of larger It is clear that there are values, both at local trajectories such as the global development and non-local levels, which are from a paradigm project and the failure of the State to address which opposes conservation, such as those of the larger conservation concerns of the river the global market-place. Here, aesthetic and basin, seem fragile and ill-fated. While there is recreational values, such as those attracting an apparent convergence between efforts of the tourism, develop in a manner that benefits state and of the community, the fundamental, global commercial players at the expense of the yet complex, chasms that will decide the long- relatively poor communities. ‘Product flows’ term fate of this effort still exist. often see local people as cheap labour for resource extraction which, with the bottomless There are numerous dilemmas that these global demand and constant desperation of efforts and the conservation community at large poverty, can reach unbridled levels, as in the need to contend with and attempt to reconcile. case of medicinal plants. ‘Ecosystem flows’ are But how do we reconcile these issues when valued only if they contribute to markets and if their driving forces often stem from different dominant players receive the resulting profits, values? Is it even possible to reconcile these as in the diversion of rivers into blasted tunnels values or must some be favoured over others? to generate electricity for faraway markets.

We know that the Gori River Basin is a very How do we resolve or reconcile the following biodiverse landscape, which is relied upon paradigms that are often inversely co-related? heavily by nearby communities and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. The • Local versus global. landscape is valued by the local community for • Moral economies of subsistence versus the following resources: those of the global market-place. • Human versus wildlife interest. Critical ‘support area’ for agriculture and for • Natural versus industrialised landscapes. livestock rearing, e.g. rangelands, • Public land and state governance versus haystands, leaf-litter for manure. common land and local community governance. Fuelwood and timber.

Edible plants and meat. It is along these fault lines that conflicts can occur between the various participants in the Medicinal plants for sale. political ecology of conservation. This review Bamboo for staking and domestic use. urges that our attention is focused along these fault lines and that we design conservation Grass for thatching. strategies that attempt to bridge these divides. Secure water sources, springs and seepages. Spiritual and aesthetic values. Conclusions

Community conservation action, which is not Global values, or those held by the wider driven or dependent on project money and conservation community, for the same time-scales, must focus upon values which are landscape include the following: of importance to the flora and fauna of the area, but that are also sensitive to the essential Species diversity of the region. subsistence needs of dependent human The biodiversity values (such as rarity, populations. It should also attempt to integrate endemism and representation) ascribed to global or non-local values to allow the birds, animals and plants in the area. communication and synergy across scales and across institutions. Active communication and The variety of habitat in terms of altitude negotiations is necessary between legislators and its corresponding climate, and its and provincial governments and federal connectivity. governments, as well as with other Recreational and aesthetic values (such as organisations such as the World Pheasant trekking, skiing and bird watching). Association. Unless they are supported by consistent and relevant policy at regional and ‘Resource flows’ e.g. timber and medicinal higher levels, local efforts can only show limited plants. success. ‘Ecosystem flows’ e.g. hydrological regimes.

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Whilst there is no doubt that our understanding of the natural world has been greatly advanced References by scientists, the problem remains that the conservation community has so far largely been ISLAM , M.Z. & RAHMANI , A.R. (2004) Important talking to itself. Reports of necessary Bird Areas in India. Priority sites for conservation action can become an isolated conservation. Indian Bird Conservation monologue with little reflection from a small, Network. Bombay Natural History Society self-contained audience. Communication needs (India) and Birdlife International (U.K.) to be diverse and expanded across different RAWAL , R. & DHAR , U. (1999) Prioritization of groups, it is not enough to speak to bureaucrats Conservation Sites in the Timberline Zone of alone. Dialogue needs to include people, the Western Himalaya. Biodiversity communities and, most importantly, their Conservation Prioritization Project process representing legislators. The history of document. WWF India. conservation in India has certainly shown that RAWAT , A.S. (1998) Forestry in Central some of the critical strides forward have been Himalaya . Centre for Development Studies, initiated by our legislators, and while we work Nainital, India. to build local conservation constituencies in THEOPHILUS , E. (2005) Wild-Meat: The scenario numerous localities, there is also a need to in the Gori River Basin, Western Himalaya engage with diverging parties at various levels. 2003-2005. World Pheasant Association and For conservation action to be significant and British High Commission, New Delhi, India. enduring, we need to negotiate common THEOPHILUS , E. (Ed) (2003) A Biodiveristy Log ground, consistency and synergy across the and Strategy Input Document. Gori River varying scales of intervention. Basin, Western Himalaya. Foundation for Ecological Security, Munsiari, District Acknowledgements Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, India. VIRDI , M. & THEOPHILUS , E. (2005) Building local The authors would like to acknowledge the conservation constituencies: A case study in Indian chapter of the World Pheasant the western Himalayas. Pp 198-203 in: Association (Mr Samar Singh in particular), the FULLER , R.A. & BROWNE , S.J. (eds) 2005. Ministry of Environment and Forests GOI, the Galliformes 2004 . Proceedings of the 3rd Uttarkhand State Forest Department (the International Galliformes Symposium, World Conservator of Forests S.S. Rasaily in Pheasant Association, Fordingbridge, U.K. particular) for their partnership and support, and the World Pheasant Association and the Biographical sketches WPA/IUCN-SSC Pheasant Specialist Group for MALIKA VIRDI is the Sarpanch or the Head of the their encouragement and moral support. Above Sarmoli-Jainti Village Forest Council, and a all, we acknowledge the commitment, energy Founding Trustee of Himal Prakriti. EMMANUEL and faith of the people of Sarmoli-Jainti Van THEOPHILUS is a resident of Sarmoli Village, and Panchayat in their actual conservation effort (K. a researcher with Himal Prakriti. Ramnarayan in particular).