Why Assam urgently needs an integrated forest policy?
The Challenge at Hand
Currently, the forest cover in Assam is 34.21%, comprising an area of 26,832 sq km. However, this percentage number is steadily, but surely, dropping as forests are cleared and trees felled across the state. While conservation groups and environmental activists are crying foul at what is happening on the ground, they have fallen well short of applying any plausible mechanism that can effectively reverse the trend. The state and the central governments have launched policies and programmes targeted towards preservation of forests, however, they have not achieved desired results yet. Needless to say, the market forces, i.e. private players, continue to reap benefits by exploiting forest resources without concern for the adverse consequences emanating from their actions.
Thus, we have a scenario where these three actors, also major stakeholders, continue to pursue their vested interests without attempting to collectively address this momentous challenge of our time. If they continue to adamantly hold their positions, Assam will cease to remain ‘green’.
The Forests of Assam - Historical context
In known history, the area comprising the present day state of Assam has continually remained under a dense forest cover. These ‘natural carbon sinks’ in the lowlands of the Eastern Himalayas comprise of various forest types, ranging from tropical wet evergreen to swamp forests, tropical semi-evergreen to sub tropical pine and so on. The diversity of these forest ecosystems, both physical and biological, has provided sanctuary to numerous endangered and threatened flora and fauna. The list includes black-breasted parrotbill, white-winged wood duck or deohanh, Bengal florican, red-headed vulture, white-rumped vulture, Jerdon’s babbler, rufous-necked hornbill, Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, pygmy hog, gaur, wild water buffalo, golden langur, capped langur, barasingha, Indian hog deer, Ganges river dolphin, Asian forest tortoise, Barca snakehead, Ganges shark, Burmese python, brahminy river turtle, black pond turtle, and Assam roofed turtle , Foxtail orchid and many more. Such a rich forest habitat has deeply influenced the culture and traditions of all indigenous communities in the region, living in the Brahmaputra Basin.
The forests in Assam have significantly influenced all aspects of life of these communities, be it their culture, tradition or history. The trees and forest ecosystems have reinforced a natural bond between people and nature, a bond that is mutually interdependent and reinforcing. Forests have provided the people of Assam with a unique ethno-national identity that is distinctive from other communities residing in adjoining regions.
The dense forests have also played a crucial role in driving the local climate cycle, resulting in higher rainfall in the region than in most parts of India. These rains, in turn, feed the mighty Brahmaputra River, whose tributaries and oxbow lakes have given the region a unique hydro-geomorphic environment. These forests have also provided protection against natural disasters, like flash floods and landslides, thus saving the lives of millions of people.
Arupjyoti Saikia in his book “Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000” elucidates the complex relationship between the politics, economy, livelihood practices and forestry programmes in Assam. He notes how prior to the colonization by British in the region, the question of livelihood rarely came up in any organized form and the local people subsisted on easily available forest resources. Then, as the Forest Departments claimed territorial rights over the unclassed forests, in the areas meant for peasants’ access, common rights progressively declined. This system has further strengthened under independent India, which has increased alienation between local communities and the forests.
Forest Management Machinery - Robust Yet Inadequate
In recent years, there is a revived attempt on part of the state and central governments to restore local communities close to the forests. The central government has introduced policy initiatives, such as the Social Forestry & National Agroforestry Policy 2014, Forests Rights Act 2006, etc., to strengthen co-benefits, including those for the protection and preservation of forest, and for generation of income and employment for communities living in and around the forests. In 2016, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) released the draft of a new National Forest Policy (NFP), aiming to replace the National Forest Policy 1988 policy, proposes the levy of a green tax to promote “ecologically responsible behaviour”. Further, it proposes the setting up of National and State Boards of Forestry to ensure inter-sectoral cooperation, human-wildlife conflict resolution, and increasing the national forestry budget.
The Government of Assam adopted the Assam Forest Policy 2004, an environment and people friendly policy framework to govern the forests and the natural resource in the state. Its priority objectives are to preserve, increase and enhance the quality of the natural forests and wetlands with vast variety of flora and fauna, besides encouraging efficient utilisation for forest products to meet the needs of the rural poor and tribal populations. The World Bank Group in a published report, entitled as India Unlocking Opportunities for Forest Dependent People in India, proclaims, “The 2004 Assam Forest Policy is a good model to examine. It is progressive, innovative, and based on a reasonable level of public input”. The policy, however, has failed to effectively address the deforestation issue due to continued encroachment in the reserve forest areas by new settlers, i.e., people displaced by floods and ethnic clashes in the state, and immigrants, both legal and illegal.
Of late, private companies functioning in Assam have also started working towards achieving sustainable development by engaging with rural and forest communities. e.g. Parry Agro, one of the leading tea producers in India, partnered with Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra — a non-profit organization — to construct classrooms, catering to the local population in and around Depota and Tezpur, in the Sonitpur District of Assam. Such initiatives by private companies, in fact, present a great scope of building strong relationships with customers, local partners and the governments as they incorporate sustainability as a tool for generating distributed profits. However, thus far the number of such initiatives is limited, and the scope of activities largely inadequate to benefit the majority of rural populace in the state.
Proposed Way Forward
The forests in Assam present an opportunity to create a variety of thriving ecosystems which can beautify the domiciling communities. Hence, there is a need for everyone in the state to make a concerted effort to keep the forests intact. Achieving this will not be easy, especially at a time when human population is rapidly increasing, and their desire for material luxuries insatiable.
The increasing deforestation occurring in Assam is no longer a problem exclusively concerning the state, its ill effects are manifesting at the regional and pan-regional level. Hence, the international community should partner with the national and local stakeholders, including civil society organizations, to press this issue forward collectively. The former needs to empower the latter in building capacity, both through resources and knowledge.
National and local stakeholders, in turn, need to jointly define and adopt a comprehensive forest policy which deals with all aspects related to the forests in Assam. Such an integrated policy framework will lay out the premises for public-private partnerships to blossom, where all stakeholders will work not just to preserve the forests, but collectively work toward sustainable forest management to maintain a balance between its three main pillars: ecological, economic and socio-cultural. In sum, this policy will reinforce the bond between men and nature that has historically existed in Assam.
Rural Futures or RuFu, a framework being developed by Balipara Foundation, is already creating a blueprint for such a model for conservation, which addresses human needs, allowing wildlife to thrive alongside. This can hlep promote the integrated framework of the Nature Conservation Law, which seeks to smoothly infuse government enforced forestry laws with customary laws of sustainable forest management, thereby, reconnecting men with nature in the purest form. Under RuFu framework, a community-led habitat restoration project is currently underway in the villages around the Khalingduar Reserve Forest. Over the course of next 10 years, it aims to scale-up the scope and area of activities to build a holistic model of conservation and empowered futures across the rural Eastern Himalayas.
In Conclusion
It is the forests that endow Assam with its true identity. In recent years, they are fast depleting, it is now high time that all stakeholders join hands to protect them. If the problem is ignored any further, not only will our future generations face the consequences, but the current generations will also face adversity in our lifetimes. A comprehensive nature-friendly forest law can be a crucial tool to deal with the pressing problems, and not a silver bullet to fix it outright! Sustained endeavours on part of all will place Assam, a biodiversity hotspot, on a right trajectory to achieve environment-friendly sustainable development in the future.
Brief bio of author: Hriday Ch. Sarma is a sustainable development professional with many years of experience. Hriday works as a Project Executive with Balipara Foundation.
