TRADITIONAL CULTURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE FOR CONSERVATION IN NORTH EAST INDIA - AN ASSESSMENT DR. BAISAKHI BANDYOPADHYAY Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Host Institution: The Asiatic Society Kolkata 700016, India Ph ton eBooks All Rights Reserved with Photon. UBN: 015-A94510112044 March, 2017 Edition: I Impact Index: 4.33 DR BAISAKHI BANDYOPADHYAY Dr. Baisakhi Bandyopadhyay was a Senior Fellow at the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. She holds a PhD in Ecology & Environmental Science from the Department of Environmental Science, University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India and has been a Visiting Fellow in the National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum & Botanical Garden, Department of Botany, University of Oslo, Norway and the Department of Human Geography, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where her project was “A Study of the Environmental Impact of Rural to Urban Migration of Workers”. She has many publications in National and International journals. From 1st July, 2002 she worked as a Program Officer and Coordinator, Information Networking Program of a World Bank assisted Environmental Information System Project (under Environmental Biotechnology) supported by Ministry of Environmental &Forest, Govt. of India. The job involved creation of a database of environment related information and literature and creation and maintenance of the web-site. From January 2005 to August 2006 she worked as a research associate in an INDIMA foundation(USA) sponsored research project entitled “Development of herbal formulations for human use”, in the Centre for Advanced Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University, Kolkata and worked as a Research Fellow of the Asiatic Society, Kolkata, India from January 2006 to December 2010 in the field of History of Science on the History of Biological Sciences & Environmental Sciences in India & South East Asia. She participated and chaired many international conferences including ones at Budapest, Hungary (the23rd International Conference in History of Science and Technology) in July –August, 2009 and at Manchester, UK (the24 th International Conference on History of Science) in July-August 2013. She was engaged as a Principal Project Investigator and Research Associate in Indian National Science Academy, India in the field of History of Environmental Science up to 2014 and her research topic was Traditional Ecological Knowledge. From 2009 to 2016 she attended many International conferences including the 4 th Himalayan Conference organised by ANHS (Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies) at the University of Texas at Austin 2016where she presented her paper “ Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Conservation Agriculture, Agricultural Biodiversity: Heritage Sites from Himalayan Hills of India accepted for oral presentation”. She has worked as a visiting scholar & faculty in different American Universities. Her work on the ancient texts of India relevant to Traditional Ecological Knowledge has been published inThe Journal of Ethnobiology and Traditional Medicineby Photon Foundation. Dr. Baisakhi Bandyopadhyayis a well known personality in the world of Ethnobiology, and International Media reports have confirmed her recognition asthe 500 Most Influential Ethnobiologists for Year 2015 on Earth. Dr. Baisakhi Bandyopadhyay was awarded with Winston Churchill Research Award-2015 in Ethnobiology. Currently she is an independent research scholar in the Asiatic Society Kolkata India working on an ICSSR (Indian Council of Social Science Research) sponsored project on tribes of North East India and its cultural and environmental influences on their neighbouring countries. The current e-book is the fruit of an extensive research work done under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, Govt of India between 2014 and 2016. TRADITIONAL CULTURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE FOR CONSERVATION IN NORTH EAST INDIA - AN ASSESSMENT DR. BAISAKHI BANDYOPADHYAY 1 Ph ton eBooks PREFACE I consider it a great privilege to delve into the traditional knowledge of my motherland, more particularly the states of North East India which have escaped the focus of attention for long. This work is an attempt to throw light on manifold aspects of the hidden land, like environment, natural phenomena, flora and fauna, forest and conservation. There is a wide difference in the society over the question of cultural practices: the world appears to be divided in two schools –one for retaining the age old practices and customs and the other favouring a continuous stream of changes in the name of progress. For many decades the main-stream people of Indian Society have been trying to “rescue” the tribes of North East India from the shadow of their ethnic culture and “upgrade” their living standard; only time will ultimately tell which is better - the imposed one or the native one. I gratefully acknowledge & express my sincere thanks to the MINISTRY OF CULTURE, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA for the Senior Fellowship -Scientific and Technological Principles of Conservation (New areas) awarded to me and for approving the project - TRADITIONAL CULTURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE, SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION IN NORTH EAST INDIA - AN ASSESSMENT as well as for providing the necessary guidelines. I am also grateful to the officials of Government of States of North East India for their gracious help extended to me at every step of my research work, without which the project could not have been completed. I am thankful to those people whom I have met during the course of my job and who have shown a great interest in the project and have rendered their best efforts to facilitate this project work. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the librarians and staff of the Library of Raja Ram Mohan Library Foundation, Kolkata, the Asiatic Society, Kolkata and the National Library, Kolkata. 2 Ph ton eBooks This ebook is dedicated to my inspiration , my parents Puspa & Uday Bannerjee and to the ethnic people of North East India who even in the rocket age are able to retain their heritage of their life style & culture 3 Ph ton eBooks TRADITIONAL CULTURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION IN NORTH EAST INDIA-AN ASSESSMENT Dr. Baisakhi Bandyopadhyay Abstract Traditional knowledge (TK), indigenous knowledge (IK), traditional cultural knowledge , Traditional Environmental knowledge and local knowledge generally refer to the long- standing traditions and practices of certain regional, indigenous, or local communities. Traditional knowledge also encompasses the wisdom, knowledge, and teachings of these communities. In many cases, traditional knowledge has been orally passed for generations from person to person. Some forms of traditional knowledge are expressed through stories, legends, folklore, rituals, songs, and even laws. Other forms of traditional knowledge are expressed through different means. The mission of this research: 4 Ph ton eBooks V to promote understanding, dissemination and respectful use of knowledge in ecological research, application and education; V to encourage education V to stimulate research which incorporates the traditional knowledge and participation of indigenous people; V to increase participation by indigenous people V V to foster understanding of indigenous and local knowledge in relationship to place; Many traditional societies in North East India, often referred to as indigenous or tribal people, have accumulated a whole lot of empirical knowledge on the basis of their experience while dealing with Nature and natural resources. This traditional wisdom is based on the intrinsic realization that man and Nature form part of an indivisible whole, and therefore should live in partnership with each other. This eco-centric view of traditional societies is widely reflected in their attitudes towards plants, animals, rivers, and the earth. The methodology and guidelines of this project fall under the following headlines: 1. IMPORTANCE OF TRADITIONAL CULTURAL & ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE 2. SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT; BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION BY SACRED GROVES, SACRED LANDSCAPE AND SACRED PLANT SPECIES AND TRADITIONAL CULTURAL & ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE 3. CROP MANAGEMENT 4. FARM MANAGEMENT 5. ANIMAL MANAGEMENT 6. THERAPEUTIC ASPECTS OF PLANTS, AYURVEDA 7. CONCLUSION AND CURRENT PRACTICES AND ROOTS IN TEK Indians take pride in their strong cultural heritage. Religion protects and nurtures nature through its customs, taboos and practices. The North-Eastern region of India is home to diverse tribal and other ethnic groups. These communities meet a substantial proportion of their resource requirements from a relatively small catchment area in which they have been living for a long time. They live in complete harmony with nature. For example, the Meetei communities in the States of Manipur and Assam. Sacred groves, or Umang Lais, as they are 5 Ph ton eBooks called in the Meetei language, form an integral part of the Manipuri tradition of nature worship. Several species of plants are protected in these groves, which also offer protection to birds and animals. These include teak, several fruit trees like lemon, plants of medicinal value such as ginger, eucalyptus and bamboo. Fishes, waterfowl and other aquatic animals like snails and insects are very common items in the diet of the Meetei. However, many of these animals are not eaten during certain periods, probably with the