Conservation Education Meet

I was a part of a 2 day workshop on Conservation Education organized at Navadarshanam (http://www.navadarshanam.org/) by ATREE (http://www.atree.org/) during December 2008. This space I take to share learning assimilated by way of questions, ideas and confusions that I encountered in course of the experience sharing by participants during the event. This was in course of the presentations as also the informal discussions that took place with cups of the wonderful tea and ladoos that we had during those 2 days.

The venue, 60 kms from Bangalore ...
One of the initial lines that struck me was on the discussion on text books on environment education. They are based on the “utility” approach and this approach being a part of the environment education curriculum was in itself a dichotomy and the example of cow said it all. The text books teach “the cow gives us milk”; now ~ no cow on the blessed planet does gives milk willingly it is we who look at it in the fashion; look at cow not as an animal that is a part of the ecosystem like us but as a body is meant to give us milk!

Usage of senses was another important point that was raised. We today stress only on one sense : that of seeing with our eyes; and this to such an extent that we have put other senses "out of sight"! The suggestion was to take students to the “outdoors” in course of conservation education programmes and have them undertake actions like feeling leaves and hugging trees. I wondered on the need to understand “education” better ~

A workshop session in progress

Giving participants free time to think and ponder on their own in course of conservation education programmes was an activity that I found very interesting and an activity that would be very invigorating to understand. I myself appreciate space and time provided in course of programmes that I am a part of!

A similar point that was raised pertained to the practise of rewarding students. The outputs of students’ efforts were published in form of a book, giving them due credits and a programme was organized where they got to talk of the efforts and deliberate on the actions undertaken by them; this I would agree, as was discussed, would be of greater interest to students than certificates. The idea i understood is to treat students as participants and not as children!

Viewing pictures in one of the presentations I realized that scale and quality need not necessarily be inversely proportional to each other and that we could organize conservation education programmes with large number of participants and yet successfully retain their interest levels. This question has been pestering me for quite some time for when we work at a smaller scale (in course of conservation education programmes) certain actions are beyond us and in cases were we attempted to augment the scale beyond a point we had succeeded in organizing an entertainment event.

A stunning poster displayed at the venue by a participant

WWF camps was an issue that was raised in course of more than one presentation. One point of deliberation on importance of WWF nature camps was put forth by saying that many of the conservationists of today were "products" of these camps (the camps having played a crucial role in their youth). The camps thus playing a very crucial conservation education role. The other view was that while these camps were good the participants in these camps were doled out names in dozens, names of birds, mammals and other wildlife in a fashion that they did not bother to remember any nor get space to ponder on what they came across ~

Material generating and dissemination were also discussed. What emerged was the need to undertake exhaustive research before designing materials as also to have a strategy for effective dissemination of the material produced.

Expressing sincere gratitude to ATREE, Sunita and all the participants for the wonderful experience !

Visit to another zoo

I have been visiting Zoos, during recent months, with multiple objectives of comprehending their potential as tools for our conservation education programme and to help with identification of species towards the wildlife assessments that we have lined up for 2009. Baroda Zoo in Gujarat I visited on 25th December during my visit to the city; pleased to share few images.

its a little lonely in here today ...

hmm... the winters are getting warmer...

now....where has my shadow gone again....

gosh... after making rules for us .... dont they know the rules they need to follow ....

the stately Baroda Musuem (one of the oldest structures built in india towards being a museum) that overlooks the Zoo ....

Sunrise and Sunset

As i post these pictures of Sunrise and Sunset (as seen from the Helipad at Saiha during the past week) I recall having read "Walking in the Green Path" where Pranav Trivedi says "I remember Lavkumar Khachar, the pioneer of nature education in India asking the participants attending his camps about how often and how many of them watch the sunrise or look up to the sky. To my shock and surprise, I found that only few of them did so and that too 'once in a while'! Two of the most unique and beautiful things that can be seen from the EARTH (one of which even runs life on EARTH) are watched only by a few and that too sometimes! Arent we missing something ? "

Musings on environment education programme ~ 2.

Approach.

At Tuipang (block headquarters) too like Phura and Saiha we have centered our programme with students on the middle schools (both government and privately owned). On one occasion while returning from the government middle which was (to our surprise) closed we were invited to the government high school for a cup of tea. During the talks accompanying the tea (2 cups and a pakora each) we began by sharing write ups (simple language with maximum length of 2 pages; more of reader friendly hand outs) on our efforts that we had then prepared. On the classes coming to an end more teachers with equally high levels of interest joined in. We then shared the field guides we were carrying ~ focusing on birds and mammals. Some of them wanted to know which species out of the many depicted in the field guides occurred in Mizoram and whether a list of species was available in Mizo language! One of them asked me “what exactly do you do and how when you visit schools in our town?” ~ I responded saying if they had time we would be glad to showcase the presentation that we had prepared for the visit rather than just talk of it. At their agreeing we first discussed on the portions to lay emphasis on (vis-à-vis the middle school students for whom it was originally meant) and then had an invigorating time showcasing it.

This, to me, was a big learning. We will, in the coming months, have to fine tune our abilities to work in a reactive mode; primarily to get groups (other than those we are currently associated with) interested, in the actions we undertake and more pertinently the issues we focus on.

In context of designing the roles for colleagues I have been keen from the onset (at Saiha field base) that they focus on conservation education (read communications and wildlife) and not poke their fingers in other actions. This was based not on any complex management theory but a simple view that if skill sets are to be imbibed one rather learn 2 (skill sets) such that (s)he can deal with them alone rather than learning (trying to!) 4 and successfully getting lost in all. So finance and administration were out for them and so were computers! I would work on these issues and we were all to focus on being amidst villages ~ forests and comprehending communications.

In course of the efforts I realized they key lay in interest levels. I can generate only that much level of interest in the students (participating in our programmes) as I espouse. Same would hold true for my colleagues! We began with wildlife films and moved on to books. Just when I felt elated at the initial response it dawned on me that the crux was to maintain the tempo! This then evolved to a full time activity (well almost). Each time we went to Phura we would go to the Palak Lake and jhum fields would be on the itinerary of each Tuipang visit. Here we would try to observe birds and animals and try to identify them with help of field guides. I recall the frustration at our repeated inability to identify the raptors at Tuipang as also the thrill on viewing the Hoary bellied Himalayan squirrel (Callosciurus pygerythrus) nibbling at flowers while lying on our backs at Phura.

Next was writing! Facial contours of each of us underwent dramatic changes when the initial reports were written and discussed. After putting in this level of efforts last thing I desired was a “dead report” or a “reporty report”. We tried to overcome this by writing “daily diaries” and sharing them weekly with each other. I was then to collate the relevant information in a “lively and interesting” fashion.

These musings are from that collation ~

(We would appreciate any communcations in respect of process documentation on efforts focussing on environment education at nimesh.ved@gmail.com or 91 94361 56458)

Musings on environment education programme ~ 1.

Interactions with Students.

Taking a break from the traps and snares of the last few days and coming back to the programme on conservation education and awareness that has had me involved and invigorated over the past months I share some of the experiences over interactions in course of the programme.

While talking to, or rather, interacting with students I realized that when putting across a novel idea or concept or even a name of a wildlife species comparisons are a great helping hand. While talking of serow (Naemorhedus sumatraensis), the state animal, we discussed how its ears resembled that of a donkey while its body was larger than that of a goad (kel). While discussing the same module “Mizoram State Wildlife” where we talked of National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Important Bird Areas, State Bird & State Animal with a youth association at Phura, to put across the concept of state bird and state animal as being species that were relatively more charismatic than other species, we discussed how select political leaders were more charismatic than their counterparts!

In tune with this during interactions with the youth association, focusing on National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries, as a part of the very module mentioned above, to share with the participants that these were not necessarily “large areas of forests away from towns and full of wild animals” we gave examples with photographs making attempts to restrict the examples to the “seven sisters” so as to enable the participants to relate better to the examples. We talked of the Nokrek National Park (West Garo Hills ~ Meghalaya) that has primarily been created to preserve the citrus species occurring in wild in the landscape and the Pitcher Plant Sanctuary (South Garo Hills ~ Meghalaya) that is less than 1 sq km in area and has been created with a view to protect primarily one species – the pitcher plant (Nepenthis khasiana).

Another major issue during these interactions has been pace. Couple of months down the line we realized that pace of our “implementing” modules with students needs to vary depending on factors ranging from the location of school (a remotely located school in an small village was different from the Don Bosco School at district headquarters) to the familiarity of the topic to the students (Palak lake of the myths and folklores was different from the Palak lake that was an Important Bird Area). At Kaisih (near Phura) during interactions on the module “Wildlife in Saiha” during the initial 15 minutes I discovered (not without sadness) new levels of lack of interest with only 1 student out of 14 coming up with any kind of responses! We took an unplanned “water break”. As the students returned we began to discuss issues on their village that they possessed proficiency on and got them talking and involved and then got them one by one to read the slides that we had prepared.

On similar lines during a session on the module “Hoolock Gibbons” at Donbosco School Saiha I figured in the initial stages that on account of our familiarity with the topic we were rushing away without forging the desired level of connect with the students (read failing in our efforts). Changing gears we slowed down the pace by talking one after another in Mizo and English in lieu of only one language ~ Mizo and also got on to lengthier interactions on local names of wild species by asking students to come and write the respective names in Mizo, Mara or Lai on the board.

These and such other adaptations I understand have had significant role in our programme (and with the programme we as individuals) evolving over the last year.

I shall be glad to receive suggestions on further names in languages native to Mizoram as also to discuss the learning from and short comings of our programme ~ nimesh.ved@gmail.com or 91 94361 56458.

Wildlife Trapping ~ 4.

This is my final post (well ~ at this juncture) on historical records of trapping on wildlife in Mizoram. This section on historical records shall form the platform for our proposed study on the theme. This post shares portions from the classic The Lakhers by N E Parry (ICS) ~ 1932.

A favourite trap used for the larger kinds of game is the kapu. A small fence is erected along the spur of a hill or anywhere in the jungle where animals are frequently on the move. Passages are left at intervals in the fence, and at each of these a spear is placed horizontally along the fence at a height sufficient to pierce at a vital spot any animal that passes. This spear is held back behind the fence by a strong bamboo spring, held in position by a peg in a cane ring, and across the gap in the fence a creeper called pairi (piper nigrum) is run, so that if an animal trips over it the spring is released and forces the spear forward so as to pierce the animal which is trying to pass through the gap. A small trap of exactly the same sort is used for porcupine.

The trap generally used for catching barking deer is called sari. A low fence is made through the jungle to guide the deer along the desired path, and gaps are left for them to pass through. In each gap a hole about 1.5 feet deep is made in the ground and covered over with bamboo sticks, on the top of which a noose made of palm fibre is placed and attached to a creeper called zongveupa, which is tied on to a springy sapling. This trap is covered with soil and leaves, and a piece of wood is placed along each side of the hole to ensure that the animals will place its foot in the desired spot. No animal will ever step on a piece of wood and if there are two pieces of wood on the path, will always place its foot between them. The cane rope is then tightened sufficiently to bend the sapling and is held down by a bamboo peg, which is kept in place by the bamboo sticks covering the hole. The barking deer comes along and steps on the bamboo sticks covering the hole. These collapse and release the bamboo peg which is holding down the cane rope. The sapling flies backwards, and the noose is tight round the barker's leg.

There are several kinds of rat-traps. The most commonly used in the makheu. A low bamboo fence which may stretch as far as a mile is put up in the jungle. At intervals in this gaps are left for the rats to run through. Over each gap a log of wood is erected and is held in position by a smaller log above it, one end of which rests on a forked pole and is attached to the log below by a strand of zongveupa, while from the other end a similar rope runs down and is attached to a small piece of stick, which is held in place by a bar running along one side of the trap and by the pressure of a stick laid across the gap and held in place by other sticks beneath which the bait is placed. The rats enter the gap to get through and push aside the sticks holding the rope which keeps the trap in equilibrium. The top log flies up, and the heavy log below falls and crushes the rats. Porcupines, monkeys and birds also get caught in this trap.

Another trap formerly used for animals is the seuphong, but as it is very dangerous to men, its use has been practically abandoned. A pit about 6 feet deep was dug on a track used by wild animals, sharp stakes were planted at the bottom of it, the mouth of the pit was covered in with roten bamboo leaves and dust, and any animal that came along fell through and was impaled on the stakes. This trap was also used as defence against an enemy when two villages were at war.

(i shall be glad to receive any further information on trapping ~ snaring of wild animals in this part of the world)

Wildlife Trapping ~ 3.

Continuing with wildlife trapping as documented in the historical records for the state "The Lushei Kuki Clans" by Lt. Colonel J Shakespear published by Tribal Research Institute - Aizawl; says ~

All the hill men are very fond of fresh meat and are clever at trapping game. Long lines of rough fencing are run through the jungle, with small openings at intervals, in which snares are set. Pheasants, jungle fowl etc, coming to one of these fences will always run along it till an opening is found, and thus get snared. Porcupines are killed by a bamboo spear fastened to a sapling bent back like a spring alongside a run and so arranged that it shall be released just as the animals is opposite the spear point. Tigers are caught under a platform of heavy logs, which is supported in an inclined position by a strong cane passed over a cross piece held up by two uprights. In a hole under this platform is placed a pig in a basket; on the tiger pulling at the basket the heavy platform falls and squashes him, while the pig, being in a hole, escapes.

Deer, wild cats, etc are caught in snares, a noose being arranged so that on the animal's stepping in it a sapling to which the noose is attached, and which is held down in a bent position, is released, thus hoisting the animals up in the air. The method of releasing the bent sapling or causing the platform to fall is in all the cases the same. Two uprights are driven into the ground and a bar securely tied across near their tops. The string or rope which supports the platform or keeps tha sapling in a bent position has a wooden toogle tied to it. The string is drawn between the uprights and one end of the toggle is hitched under the bar and the other end drawn down between the uprights until it is perpendicular, in which position it is held by a movable piece of wood being flipped across the uprights, just behind its lower end. In this position the pull of the string is on the upper cross bar, and a very slight touch will remove the lower one and set the toggle free; then up goes the string and down comes the platform or noose is tightened. The removal of the lower bar is achieved in several ways. The bait or one end of a string stretched across the run may be tied to it or it may be made to support one end of a tiny platform, on which the unwary quarry treads as it passes.

Pitfalls constructed in former times for the capture of elephants are found all over the hills, generally on a narrow ridge between precipices. To catch monkeys some rice is placed on a small platform at the end of a partially severed bamboo standing at a right angle to the hillside. The monkey, attracted by the rice, springs on to the platform and is precipitated on to a number of bamboo spikes which have been stuck in the ground beneath it. The same device with suitable alteration is sometimes employed to destroy tigers and bears.

(the idea behind studying these amazingly documented historical references is to get a picture of wildlife situation in the landscape occuring in those times and to understand practices that can be applied to conserve the wildlife that occurs on these lands today)

Trapping Wildlife ~ 2.

Pu Sangkima in his "Essays on the History of the Mizos" (Spectrum Publications, 2004) talks of traps for wildlife in Mizoram while talking of Kuts in the chapter on "Social Life of the Mizos : Some Aspects.:

Kut is a Mizo word for festival or feast. Kut became one of the common features of the social life of the Mizo people. There were 3 kinds of kut: Mim kut, Pawl kut and Chapar kut. He further says that the Pawl kut (Pawl meaning straw) and Chapar kut were held immediately after the jhum (shifting cultivation) cutting (harvest) was over as a sort of harvest thanksgiving. During the feast each family prepared meat for which, a week before the occassion, "everyone went hunting by setting traps" and if they could not catch any other animals the family would kill some fowl.

Trapping Wildlife ~ 1

I continue my fascination with historical records from the region; however now focussing on hunting and trapping of wildlife. While the socio - cultural practises of a region warrant respect, i am given to understand by virtue of my current understanding (which is not very great) of the wildlife related issues in this region that trapping (of wildlife) as it is practised today merits immediate conservation attention ! We need to begin by attempting to understand - document the scenario and according work together towards implementing conservation friendly practices ~

The paragraphs below are from R A Lorrain's classic "5 Years in Unknown Jungles" and depict the scenario of a century ago from an anthropogenic perspective. Should any of you be interested i am interested to communicate on hunting and trapping as they are practised across the 8 states in this part of our country.

Page 184;
The rainy season is the great time of the year with the Lakhers (Mara) for trapping wild animals, the ground being so sodden with the continual rains as to leave deep foot-prints behind any animal that has passed along, thus enabling them to know the best spots to place their various forms of traps. By far the commonest snared animal is the barking deer, and in order to catch these swift-paced animals, which are a little larger than a large-sized goat, they set a noose across the path, one end of which is tied to a bent-over bamboo over sapling, whilst the noose itself is hidden from view by the undergrowth. A fine line crossing the path is attached to a little trigger arrangement, and the unsuspecting deer comes bounding along and is bound to touch this fine line with its hoof, the slightest touch of which will release the trigger; the bend-over sapling being immediately freed from its lashings will spring into an erect position, drawing the noose tight about the unfortunate animal’s head and the animals is suspended in mid-air strangled until the setter of the noose comes along, and if not already dead dispatches it.

Many animals, however, are killed by a trap on the principle of the bow and arrow, the arrow being a large bamboo sharpened to an exceedingly fine point, the other end of the shaft being tied to a long bamboo about 12 feet in length. This long bamboo acts as a spring; one end of it is placed between two posts which have been hammered securely into the ground, the other end having the arrow attached to it. A little platform of bamboos, which cannot be detected by the eye of the animal, is then made as a rest and guide for the arrow, and when this is complete a fine cord is placed across the pathway, at the end of which is a small trigger, also made of bamboo. The long bamboo containing the arrow is seized at the arrow end and ben back to the extent of some two feet, the trigger and cord being placed in a certain way so as to hold it in this position. According to the animal to be captured, so is the arrow placed at a height that is considered sufficient to strike its unfortunate victim in the heart.

The unsuspecting animal comes prowling along the road and the slightest touch of its paw will release the trigger, and the already straining bamboo with its bamboo arrow attached will be released and with an enormous force will strike the unfortunate beast, piercing its ide and going several inches into its body. Naturally the victim gives a bound and the arrow being secured by a cord to the long bamboo will not detach itself, and the animal is freed from the arrow. The wound, however which is made, bleeding profusely, leaves a trail behind it, and if the setter of the trap has placed the position of the arrow correctly he will not have very far to follow this blood track before he finds his victim dead. If the arrow had not been attached to this bamboo, so the Lakhers (Mara) say, but been allowed to pierce its victim, and the victim to escape with the arrow sticking into it, in all probability the wound would have healed up and the trapper would have lost his price. The principle of this trap is very similar to the principle of the school boy shooting pellets of paper across the school-room from the end of his ruler while holding the other end firmly in his hand, and it goes by the name of “Kapu”. This same trap is made in various sizes, according to the animal desired to be captured, being used more frequently in the obtaining of porcupines.

Traps for elephants are made by the digging of a large pit of sufficient size to admit one of these huge creatures At the bottom of this pit a great number of sharp-pointed bamboos are struck firmly in an upright position in the ground. The top is roofed in by boughs of trees and leaves and the animals are then driven towards these traps, and on their treading upon the weak roofing it gives way and the poor animal falls headlong into the pit, the short bamboos ofttimes causing the animal great torture. Once in the trap, however, it is soon dispatched, and the bones which contain the tusks are then carried to the village to decorate the front verandah. Where the British Government, however, has power, elephant hunting is now forbidden.

The Lakhers (Mara) have a great number of smaller snares used for catching jungle fowl, peacock pheasants, black pheasants and the like which are numerous, but the general principle of them all is the bent-over sapling or bamboo, to form the power to draw the noose tight around the creature’s neck. There, however, is one other kind of trap which is often used and is formed by falling of a log of wood on the victim’s back, smashing it and wedging the victim under its heavy weight. This form is used for killing tigers, birds and even for rats, but it greatly damages game, smashing almost every bone in their bodies to splinters and bruising the flesh greatly.

Bird lime for snaring small birds is also used, and is obtained from the juice of a species of rubber tree which is found through out the country, and which when smeared on the branches of trees will secure any small bird easily, being soon dispatched by the trapper.

One other trap is worthy of mention and is used in catching jungle rats, porcupines and any boring animals. A long basket of bamboo lattice-work is made which is just sufficiently wide enough in diameter to admit of the animal passing along it. At one end it is closed, at the other end open. The open end is placed into the hole of the animals and supported by sticks of wood underneath and securely fastened. The porcupine or rat, as the case may be, on coming to the exit of its hole will observe the lattice basket, and finding no other way out will immediately commence to force its way through, believing that at the other end there is an exit. Once inside the basket it is impossible for the animal to turn. On it endeavouring to turn round, the lattice-work is plaited in such a way that it contracts and holds the body of the animal firm, making it only possible for the animal to go on, which, owing to the end being closed up, it is unable to do, and has no alternative but to wait there until its trapper dispatches it.

Jungle rats are very much appreciated by the people, who eat their flesh. Not troubling to skin the animals, they stick a skewer through their bodies, hold them over the flame of fire which burns off all the hair and chars the skin, and is a sufficient cleansing for this people, who not only eat their flesh but eat their bones and their entrails as well, as a rule. The difference between a jungle rat and house rat is this. The house rat is brown all over, while the jungle rat has a jungle rat has a snow-white belly.

There are several other species of rats in the country which are not as a rule eaten. Two are specially worthy of notice – the black rat which will kill your large fowls in a very short space of time and carry away your chicken in great numbers. The second species is the bamboo rat, which lives entirely on the roots of bamboos and is a much larger animal, generally the size of a young rabbit with long incisor teeth with which it can cut through the toughest of bamboo roots. These rats are generally coloured, but once specimen which it was our privilege to obtain was snowy white, the only specimen of its sort which we have ever seen.

Weaving in Mizoram

I have been fortunate to have access to books written on Mizoram (Lushai Hills) during the “earlier days”. The breadth of the language and the richness of descriptions in these books have been a lesson on writing. The pictures in these books, some of which I had also come across earlier, depict local people then, wrapped in long cloths. I used to wonder whether they brought clothes from the plains or made them and in case of the later how did they procure the ingredients ~ Further, reading of “Lushei Kuki Clans" By Lt Colonel J Shakespear and "5 Years in Unknown Jungles" by R. A. Lorrain has made me aware to another of the amazing skill sets that used to exist here in this regard, yet another facet of people’s relationship with a natural resource.

I share select but fascinating details here ~

This is from 5 Years in Unknown Jungles ~

The weaving loom is then brought out, and with cotton grown and manufactured by themselves they make some very pretty cloths, decorating them very artistically with various beautiful designs, some of their cloths taking them months to complete, sometimes a year or more. Red, black, yellow and gold are the general colours employed in the making of this cloth, but the gold is always silk, procured from a silk moth not by the Lakhers themselves but by the hillsmen over the Burmese frontier, who once a year pass through the country in order to barter away the silk which they have obtained.

Weaving is a very tedious occupation, and the women show great skill and patience in their undertakings, the threads of the cloth being very carefully arranged. They obtain their black dye from the indigo plant which they cultivate, while their red and yellow cotton is obtained by boiling the white cotton with various roots dug in the jungle.

The cotton plant is grown upon their cultivations, and they make out of wood an instrument similar to a mangle for seeding the same, the raw cotton passing through the rollers and the cotton seeds in this way being pushed out. After the cotton has been seeded they flick it out and with a bow made of bamboo and a taut string, which they keep on flicking against the cotton, causing it to become like down. This down-like cotton is then carded, that is rolled out with the hands into pencil shaped rolls of about 6 to 9 inches long.

After this another instrument is then brought into use, a wheel made of wood around which a string acting as a band is placed, the other end of it encircling a rounded piece of wood on the end of a steel pin. As the handle of the wheel is turned so that steel pin revolves at a great rate, and in a very clever manner the carded cotton is touched against this steel spindle and is drawn out into thread. This thread, however, is not of sufficient strength to be of any use. It is therefore tied on to the end of a bamboo, which is weighted at one end by a disc of bone from the foot of the elephant, and this is the article with which one will see a woman when on her way to the jungle to fetch wood or water, carrying in her hand and spinning the weighted bamboo round, at the same time running her fingers nimbly up and down the thread, causing it to twist into strong cotton.

After this process has been completed it is wound into skeins and placed in rice water, which is boiled for many hours, afterwards the skeins of cotton being placed on a bamboo rack and stretched out to dry in the sun, during which process it is combed vigourously with a comb made from the fruit of the screw pine, all stray ends being in this manner separated from the cotton. This process of boiling in rice water is continued several times, and at last this skein of cotton are placed on a large winding wheel and is wound into balls ready for use.

Indigo dye is made by the pounding of indigo leaves and the boiling of the same, after which the cotton is dipped into the dye and hung up to dry in the sun, this process being repeated many times in order to get a sufficient deepness of colour.

Passing down the village street with the huts ranged on either side, one notices outside most of them a raised bamboo platform where some old Lakher woman may be seen squatting, sorting her tray full of freshly gathered cotton, placing the good in one heap and the bade in another.

This from Lushei and Kuki Clans ~

Cloth Manufacture-

Cotton in grown in the jhums. It is cleaned in a home-made gin, consisting of a frame holding two wooden rollers, one end of each being carved for a few inches of its length into a screw, grooved in the opposite way to the other, so that on the handle being turned the rollers revolve in opposite directions, and the cotton is drawn between them, the seeds being left behind. The cotton is then worked by hand into rolls a few inches long, whence it is spun into the spindle of a rough spinning wheel, or occasionally a bobbin is used, which being given a sharp twist, draws the cotton into a thread by its own weight. This method admits of diligent ones spinning as they go to and from their jhums. The thread having been spun, it is thoroughly wetted and then hung in loops some three or four feet long over a horizontal bar, and stretched by several heavy bars being suspended in these loops.

Weaving -

The warp is prepared by passing the thread round two smooth pieces of wood, one of which is fastened to two uprights, while the ends of the other are attached to the ends of a broad leather band, which passes behind the back of the weaver as she sits on the ground and, by leaning back, stretches the threads to the requisite degree of tightness. The woof is formed by passing to and fro bamboos round which are wound different coloured threads, which are beaten home with a well polished batten made of sago palm.

A very serviceable form of quilt called puanpui is made by passing round every fourth or fifth thread of the warp a small roll of raw cotton and drawing both ends up. A row of these cotton rolls is put in after every fourth or fifth thread of the woof, so that on one side the quilt is composed of closely tufts of cotton.

Dyeing -

The commonest dye is obtained by boiling the leaves of the Assam indigo (Strobilanthes flaccidifolia). Many immersions are required to render the colour permanent ad as the plan, which is cultivated near the villages or in the gardens, does not grow luxuriantly, it is seldom possible to obtain enough heaves in any one year for more than two immersions, so that the whole process may take two or three years.

Several read and yellow dyes are known, but they are little used, and most of the thread, excepting the blue and while is obtained from the bazaars.

Yellow bellied Weasel

Yellow-bellied Weasel Mustela kathiah records from Mizoram, India
Nimesh VED and S. LALRAMNUNA


Abstract
This note presents two records of Yellow-bellied Weasel Mustela kathiah from Mizoram, North-east India. These appear to be the only confirmed recent reports of this mustelid in the state.


Key words: Yellow-bellied Weasel, Mustelidae, Saiha, North-east India


Mizoram India atanga Yellow-bellied Weasel Mustela kathiah hmuhchhuah chhinchhiahna


Chanchin Tlangpui

He thuziak tawi hian India hmarchhak a awm, Mizoram atanga hmuhchhuah Yellow-bellied Weasel Mustela kathiah chhinchhiahna pahnih chungchang a sawi a ni. Hei hi, he state-a hetiang mustelid chungchang sawina nemngheh neih hnaivai awmchhun niin a lang.

Thumal Pawimawh: Yellow-bellied Weasel, Mustelidae, Saiha, North-east India

Introduction

The Yellow-bellied Weasel Mustela kathiah has a relatively wide Asian range, occurring from northern India east through the Himalaya, much of southern China and northern South-east Asia (Corbet & Hill 1992). A hill-dwelling species, it is found between 1,000 m and 2,000 m elevation; in winter it may come down to lower than 1,000 m (Choudhury 1997, 1999). Very little is known about its biology and ecology (Hussain 1999). Small mustelids investigated to date show high habitat plasticity, but the habitat requirements of tropical Mustela populations remain effectively unknown, and it may be rash to extrapolate conservation needs from those of primarily Holarctic species (Abramov et al. in press). Apparently no Mustela species has ever been studied in South-east Asia and Yellow-bellied Weasel’s habitat use remains little known in that region (Duckworth & Robichaud 2005). Hence, this note places on record its occurrence in an area far from other recent detailed records.

North-eastern India, comprising the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Tripura, forms part of a rich biogeographic unit and is among the biodiversity "hotspots" of the world (Choudhury 1999, Myers et al. 2000). The Yellow-bellied Weasel is known by very few records in north-eastern India historically: Sangrachu and Mokokchaung in the Naga Hills were the only localities known to Pocock (1941). It has been recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Assam and Manipur (Choudhury 1999), and there is one historical specimen from Mizoram: a skin and skull of a female collected in the Lushai Hills, Sangao, on 16 February 1953 by W N Koelz, and held in the Field Museum, Chicago, USA; specimen n° 75807 (Choudhury 2001; L. R. Heaney in litt. 2008). Elsewhere in north-east India, a fresh skin was seen with a local in Sape village, Sarli circle in Lower Subansiri district, Arunachal Pradesh (Kumar 1999), and a killed specimen was on sale at Kohima market, Nagaland, as food in 1997 (Choudhury 2000); its current status in Assam is unclear (Choudhury 1997). Beyond Indian political boundaries too, to the east of Mizoram, it has been recently recorded in Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar (e.g. Duckworth & Robichaud 2005, Than Zaw et al. 2008).


Mizoram (21°57′–24º30′N, 92°15′–93º29′E) is located in the extreme southern part of north-eastern India, and has a geographical area of 21,081 km² (0.6% of India’s geographical area). Mizoram has three major forest types, Tropical Wet Evergreen, Tropical Moist Deciduous and Subtropical Pine Forests, and is rich in wild flora and fauna, both in variety and abundance. A perusal of secondary literature and consultations with biologists, forest department personnel and others in the state familiar with its conservation values revealed that while in general the biological and conservation values were relatively poorly researched throughout the state, south Mizoram was particularly in the proverbial rain shadow of conservation attention. A total of 42 species of mammals were recorded from recent wildlife surveys. Of these, 34 species were detected directly during the survey, while the other eight were recorded through interviews with hunters and examination of trophies, animal remains and pets (Datta-Roy et al. 2007). The survey does not mention the Yellow-bellied Weasel.


We work towards designing and implementing a conservation education and awareness programme in Saiha region in South Mizoram in partnership with the forest department of Mara Autonomous District Council.

Fig: 1.

Records

We saw a freshly dead Yellow-bellied Weasel at Tuipang (22º 31′33″ N, 93º 02′40″ E; the headquarters of Tuipang block in Saiha district; about 1,250–1,300 m asl) on 17 June 2008. The weasel had been caught in a trap set in the jhum (shifting cultivation) fields earlier during the day and was dead before we saw it. These non-baited traps, known as ‘mangkhawng’, are made using small logs and placed on the edge of crop fields. This particular trap that caught the weasel was about 2.0–2.5 km from the town in a mosaic of old, new, and current shifting cultivation plots with some village supply and safety reserves. The animal was recognised by the people and is locally referred to as ‘sarivaithun’ or ‘zuhri’. It is an aggressive animal and stays in tree holes (Pu P. Sangkhuma verbally July 2008). It eats rats and is not eaten by the local com
munity on account of its pungent smell, so is instead thrown away (Pu Lambu and Pu J. Biakmawia verbally June 2008). It is therefore a by-catch in the traps primarily set for catching squirrels, rats, and civets. These traps are laid for procuring meat and at the same time get rid of crop pests. We were able to take close photographs of the weasel body, which was wet with rain (Fig. 1). The specimen however remained unsexed.

In Aizawl (capital of Mizoram) we saw a preserved specimen of the Yellow-bellied Weasel at the Mizoram State Museum on 18 July 2008. This stuffed specimen (serial number 419) was referred to as ‘sarivaithun’. With permission from the museum curator we were able to take photographs of the specimen. According to the museum authorities the specimen was taken from ‘Chite lui’ (23º 45′N, 92º 43′E), a river (lui in Mizo) near Aizawl city, in August 1993.

Concluding remarks

The Yellow-bellied Weasels in the trap and the museum, and the awareness of the locals pertaining to the species, including local names, confirm the presence of this mustelid as resident in the state.

Hunting is culturally sanctioned and widely practiced in Saiha region. It impacts wildlife including weasels in a negative fashion. Select myths and beliefs that exist in the local society exacerbate the pressure on wildlife. We therefore believe that regular communications focusing on natural values occurring in region are pertinent towards wildlife conservation in these remote forested lands. These communications need to be sensitive to local cultural values and mores and undertaken with students in schools and also locally relevant institutions like youth associations and village council members that form an integral part of these societies.


Acknowledgements

We are indebted to Kashmira Kakati, Larry Heaney, Will Duckworth, and Aparajita Datta for their guidance in writing this note, help with species identification and sharing of papers and records. We are thankful for the support provided by the forest department of Mara Autonomous District Council. Special acknowledgements are due to Pu Thaly Azyu, Pu Vabeikhaihmo Solo and Pu V. Laihlao for sharing their vast knowledge of the region, its wildlife, and helping with our visits. We are thankful to Pu Laltlanhlua Zathang at Mizoram State Forest Department Aizawl for sharing his knowledge on wildlife of the state. We thank the curator of the Mizoram State Museum at Aizawl, Pu P. Sangkhuma for the permission to take pictures of the exhibits and sharing valuable details on the exhibit. We thank Pu Lambu and Pu J. Biakmawia for helping with local names and practices. We thank Anirban Dutta Roy and Arpan Sharma for sharing their experiences in the region. Sincere gratitude is due to the donors who have supported Samrakshan’s efforts in Mizoram till date: Primate Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund, Columbus Zoo, and Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation.

References

Abramov, A. V., Duckworth, J. W., Wang, Y. X. & Roberton, S. I. in press. The Stripe-backed Weasel Mustela strigidorsa: taxonomy, ecology, distribution and status. Mammal Review.
Choudhury, A. U. 1997. The distribution and status of small carnivores (mustelids, viverrids and herpestids) in Assam, India. Small Carnivore Conservation 16: 25–26.
Choudhury A. U. 1999. Mustelids, viverrids, and herpestids of northeastern India. ENVIS Bulletin: Wildlife and Protected Areas. 2(2): 43–47.
Choudhury, A. U. 2000. Some small carnivore records from Nagaland, India. Small Carnivore Conservation 23: 7–9.
Choudhury, A. U. 2001. A systematic review of the mammals of NE India. Gauhati University, India (DSc thesis).
Corbet, G. B. & Hill, J. E. 1992. The mammals of the Indo-Malayan region: a systematic review. Natural History Museum Publications & Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
Datta-Roy, A., Sharma, A. & Azyu, T. T. 2007. Kaiseitlah Conservation Area: survey for wildlife values. Final Report. Samrakshan Trust and E & F Dept, MADC. . Downloaded on 26 July 2008.
Duckworth, J. W. & Robichaud, W. G. 2005. Yellow-bellied Weasel Mustela kathiah sightings in Phongsaly province, Laos, with notes on species’s range in South-East Asia, and recent records of other small carnivores in the province. Small Carnivore Conservation 33: 17–20.
Hussain, S. A. 1999. Mustelids, viverrids and herpestids of India: species profile and conservation status. ENVIS Bulletin: Wildlife and Protected Areas. 2(2): 1–38.
Kumar, R. S. 1999. Locality records of mustelids, viverrids and herpestids from Arunachal Pradesh. ENVIS Bulletin: Wildlife and Protected Areas. 2(2): 48–53.
Myers, N., Mittermeier, R. A., Mittermeier, C. G., da Fonseca, G. A. B. & Kent, J. 2000. Biodiversity hotpots for conservation priorities. Nature 403: 853–858.
Pocock, R. I. 1941. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Mammalia, 2nd ed., vol. II. Taylor & Francis, London.
Than Zaw, Saw Htun, Saw Htoo Tha Po, Myint Maung, Lynam, A. J., Kyaw Thinn Latt & Duckworth, J. W. 2008. Status and distribution of small carnivores in Myanmar. Small Carnivore Conservation 38: 2–28.

Small Carnivore Conservation, Vol. 39: 35–36, October 2008

Samrakshan Trust, House No: 153, New Saiha West, Saiha 796901, Mizoram, India


Email:Nimesh.ved@gmail.com

 Fig. 1. Recently trapped Yellow-bellied Weasel Mustela kathiah, Tuipang, Mizoram, 17 June 2008.


Link to the note in journal - http://smallcarnivoreconservation.org/sccwiki/images/3/37/SCC39_Ved_and_Lalramnuna.pdf

Hoolock gibbon in Mizoram and Saiha.

Samrakshan's efforts in Saiha district on conservation education and awareness focuss on India's only ape - the Hoolock gibbon (hahuk or veitu).

In this post we share some of the records of the primate (pertaining to Mizoram and Saiha) that we have been able to collate.

Rev. R A Lorrain, 1907.

The Gibbon Ape is seen swinging from branch to branch, calling out with its weird, hollow sound. These Gibbon Apes have no tails, and are the nearest approach to human beings that I have ever seen. One thing I have noticed about Gibbon Apes, which does not appear to be mentioned in natural history, is that the female is nearly always grey whilst the males are dark, and it is quite a picture to see these noble animals caring for their young; and there is no nicer pet that one can wish for than a young Gibbon Ape, which will soon learn to care for one and throw its arms around your neck as if it were a child.

The trees were swarmed with long-tailed monkeys and Gibbon Apes, the latter making no end of noise as the boats approached.

The cries of the Gibbon Apes were on every hand, and the experience was indeed a pleasant one to those on an adventurous mind.

A K Gupta and Narayan Sharma, 2005.

Remoteness of the region coupled with absence of Protected Areas has ensured minimal research on these Hoolock gibbons occurring in Mizoram.

A total of 72 gibbon groups were identified from 7 different populations in Mizoram covering an area of about 298sq kms in all the districts of Mizoram. The survey local included all the existing and proposed Protected Areas and Reserved Forests. Out of the 72 groups recorded in the study, as many as 37 groups (51.4%) were outside the boundary of either Protected Areas of Reserved Forests.

Most Hoolock gibbon groups in Mizoram are found in degraded and abandoned jhum areas of village forests. Most of the forested areas are under the control of the communities. This peculiar situation and the fact that most of the Hoolock gibbon groups and for that matter other wildlife species too are not under the direct control of the forest authorities, do call for great efforts to make the participatory conservation approach more effective. The importance of conservation education to this effect will be immense and has to be adopted with focused approach keeping in mind the target communities.

A. U. Choudhury, 2006.

Hoolock gibbons occur in all the districts, namely: Aizawl, Champhai, Kolasib, Lawngtlai, Lunglei, Mamit, Saiha, and Serchhip. The main populations, however, survive in Champhai, Lawngtlai, Lunglei, Mamit, and Saiha districts. Some of the best rainforest of northeast India is found in southern Mizoram, covering parts of the districts of Lawngtlai and Saiha and has relatively good gibbon populations. There are sizeable populations in southern Saiha and Lawngtlai districts.

Sources -

Choudhury A. U. (2006). The distribution and status of Hoolock Gibbon, Hoolock Hoolock in Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland in north east India. Primate Conservation 2006 (20): 79–87

Gupta A. K. and Narayan Sharma. (2005). Conservation status of Hoolock Gibbon in Mizoram. (in). Conservation of Hoolock Gibbon (Bunopithecus hoolock) in northeast India. ENVIS Bulletin: Wildlife and Protected Areas, Vol. 8. No. 1, pp 27 – 86.

Reginald Lorrain (1912) 5 Years in Unknown Jungles, Lakher Pioneer Mission. London, 264 pages.

We thank Christy Williams for the photograph (its from Assam though)!

My first hike in Saiha

This post talks of one of the more invigorating weeks of my life during my initial days in this amazing land, one full year and few weeks ago!

I had recently moved on to Saiha in Mizoram to be a part of a team that would set up Samrakshan’s third field base in this southern most district of north east India. It had been a month of initial activities ranging from purchasing stationary to meeting the executive members of the Mara Autonomous District Council and now I had to move to the field (somehow I still am uncomfortable using the term!). So we set off, me and my colleague, for about a week.

We moved to Tuipang on a Saturday and on reaching met the Block Development Officer; primarily to seek sanction to put up the night in the state guest house. Wondering if I would meet him on a drizzling Saturday evening I was surprised to see the entire staff working on a holiday. Electricity then used to visit Tuipang only during weekends! The Block Development Officer then wished us for the journey saying that people in the region were very cooperative but not the weather as it currently stood. At the guest house, later that evening, I wondered what people’s perception to opposition to dams and other development activities in the region by people staying in urban India would be if this was state at the block headquarters. The hot and wonderful potatoes in the evening meal were cooked by a person who came from Nepal, had worked at Vijaynagar in Arunachal Pradesh and very proudly talked of a Nepali ghetto within the district.

We moved on early next morning. A three hour walk which seemed much longer brought us to Lalveng where seeing me puffing and perspiring a family offered tea. During the chat accompanying tea on knowing our interest in forests they told us of people from Myanmar coming to collect orchids from around their village. Discussion then ventured to work done by World Vision, an international non government organization, in their village undertaking diverse activities like construction of public water points, facilitation of self help groups and distribution of school books. On knowing about us they asked us how our presence would be of benefit to them. Thanking them we moved on further towards Ahmypi with me wondering how to have people actively participate in conservation education and awareness without their getting tangible benefits! Conservation education and awareness was what we were planning to initiate our efforts at Mizoram with.

Walking on, desperately seeking hot tea, we came to the Power House. This is a dam on Tuipang river that generates power in middle of this Eden. The power is initially transmitted to neighbouring district of Lawngtlai from where it is distributed to Saiha besides Lawngtlai. In case of emergency it also lights up the state capital, Aizwal. Having steaming tea with the people present there made me feel a proud Indian. Here I was, a Gujarati with a Mara colleague having tea made by a Mizo in the house of a Jharkhandi while the company that made the Power House and this tea providing house was from Orissa. In course of the tea powered chat they told us of having seen deers and bears around the Power House especially in the season that the amla trees bear fruits. Talk on bears reminded me that we had to reach Ahmypi before sunset and we resumed our walk. Wandering again on environment education my thoughts dwelled on the possibility of linking protection of the forests around of Tuipang river to the people that they get electricity! Then staring at the amazing shades of green surrounding me I smiled at my own thought and moved on. Finally when we reached Ahmypi I was so exhausted I could not have run even if I was chased by a bear. An hour or more later over an amazing curry of fresh pumpkin leaves we discussed the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act - the daily wage rate offered, trainings the people concerned received, people’s interactions with the Block Development Office that administered the Act and the work done with the local village committee.

Next day I was awaken by the chill and drumming of rain on the roof. The rains tired off, roof retreated to a sloppy silence and we put on our bags to move towards Khopai. We came across parakeets, jungle fowls, forktails and leeches! The team spirit the leeches demonstrated in sucking my blood reminded me of the wild dogs attacking a deer in cohesion in one of Sekhar’s films. After the blood, the bath. It was an experience, a tired body letting itself go into the chill Tipa river to the most beautiful of surroundings, making one sing aloud. Reaching Khopai putting our bags we went for a walk around the village. After being impressed with the dustbins in positive blue lining the road that went around the village in a U we sat down to talking with people.

We started conversing about Hoolock gibbons with a group of elderly men. According to them while Hoolock gibbons had decreased significantly in numbers people still used to hunt them! One of them added that they used to be easy to hunt as their call is very loud and during specific times of the day. Also they stick to specific areas and have single mates. If a hunter shoots an adult Hoolock gibbon then the mate calls out in agony and follows suit. I remembered reading Kashmira’s article the week before – their loud calls, their being monogamous and territorial – all now being put across in a fashion that to me was unconventional. His friend listed the manner in which the lesser ape then used to be utilized - when it occured in abundance. The arm of a dead Hoolock gibbon was used to lessen agony of women during child birth by placing it over her abdomen and that its blood was considered good for curing ailments like blood pressure and malaria. The Phayres leaf monkey too was regularly put to use in those days! Its brain was given to a child having abnormal growth while its blood was good for curing tuberculosis. Just when I was feeling that I had had my awareness lessons for the day one of them asked if he could catch these animals and help them produce babies. I smiled initially, my mouth full of beetelnut, but when I realized he was talking about captive breeding and to what end I gulped the beetelnut down and with starry eyes asked for water!

We stayed over at Khopai as we were invited to the annual celebrations of the local youth club. The function began with a prayer and a beautiful folk dance by youth attired in traditional clothes which was followed by a series of speeches. By the time the third speech ended I had an idea of when to smile and clap. Then came the games. There was a relay race where students raced teachers, young girls pulled over the rope in tug of war with elder men, few boys unsuccessfully tried climbing the pole dripping with oil and the final two participants at musical chair went on and on for long. I simultaneously flew back in time to those wonder years with friends when life was simple, beautiful and fun. In the evening we met the village council president who had just returned from a meeting in the neighbouring village. This was for protecting the forests alongside the Tuipang and Tuisi rivers and attended by representatives from select villages and forest departments from Indian and Myanmar sides. A meeting on similar lines had also been organized during the previous year.

Next day we left for Vahai reaching in around six hours. Enroute we stopped to see a group of Orange bellied himalayan squirrels rushing up and down a huge tree. In my three years in South Garo Hills in Meghalaya I could not recall coming across such huge trees in community owned lands. Also while silently sitting and watching the squirrels I felt glad that we did not carry the camera, binoculars and GPS with us then for rather than admiring nature we would have been fiddling with the blessed equipments. At Vahai we stayed with an accomplished hunter, as the 17 trophies on the walls of his house suggested. Memories of the survey we had undertaken earlier at Meghalaya flashed in my mind and I asked him to tell us of the species in the forests nearby that he believed had increased and decreased the most in numbers. He told me that earlier he was aware of only three animals being protected by law, meaning those he could not hunt; Asian elephant, One horned rhino and Royal bengal tiger but of late through interactions with various people he got to know of the list being pretty long.

The next day we walked down the slope to Phura. While Vahai and Khopai are eighty five to hundred years old Phura is young at twenty five. A pilot project on rice cultivation was initiated and people from surrounding villages slowly moved around to settle at Phura. I moved around the place and my meager knowledge on rice cultivation did not prevent me from supping few cups of tea at the Phura market where I ended up soaking the ambience for a couple of hours. Byline of the movie Matrix fits Phura market place to the T. Unfortunately it cannot be explained one has to experience it.

After a good long sleep at the forest rest house we set out for Palak lake on the following day. Palak is Mizoram’s largest lake and recognized as an Important Bird Area. I had seen pictures of the lake but being there on the spot left me mesmerized. This same feeling I had when I first saw the Nandadevi peak in Uttrakhand and the Balpakram gorge in Meghalaya. Walking around I saw a Great hornbill and dung of the only elephant in the landscape. There used to be five till some years back intruding in crop fields and demolishing toilets. Crop fields, of the permanent nature, are about two decades old and toilets one decade while Asian elephants who have been here for ages are considered intruders! This may be another vanishing population of the mega species! Sitting down to have a meal at the hut constructed near the lake by the fisheries department some years ago I wandered if some places should just be left alone, left as they are, bereft of conservation and livelihood projects. Majority of these projects are unfortunately ill conceived or cannot match the complicity that nature offers. Back at the forest rest house I was told that government officers come over to hunt birds at Palak. I wondered if we will have to begin our efforts with them!

The next day we walk to Maisa from where we took a pick up for Saiha. The first 40 kms taking 8 hours. After reaching Saiha finally when I talked to my colleague waiting at the office I realized these days will stay with me for long.

Thanking all the people for wonderful stays in their villages with mustard curry and the energy infusing cups of tea!

The lines above document our interactions with people during our trip and not the stand of the organization.

Garo Hills (Meghalaya) - Self Help Groups

This post neither concerns Mizoram nor Conservation Education but focuses on Samrakshan's efforts towards fostering institutions that would play a pivotal role in Community Based Conservation action in the wildlife rich 'community owned' lands on the periphery of the Balpakram National Park. The experience is during my association with our Meghalaya Field Base in Baghmara.

Garo Hills stands out as a lonesome corner of Meghalaya tucked away between Assam and Bangladesh. 3 districts of East Garo Hills, West Garo Hills and South Garo Hills and Bangladesh comprise the Garo Hills Commissionarate. Baghmara, the district headquarters of South Garo Hills is located at the point where the low lying Indian hills melt into the fertile Bangladeshi plains. Self Help Group (SHG) is a form of independent community based and owned institution. Self Help Groups have evolved over the past three decades to today being a window for developmental action by a varied spectrum of government and non government agencies. They are regarded by many as the most effective tool for delivering livelihood as also natural resource conservation goals.

The lines below talk about learning during my association with the Garos in villages of South Garo Hills. The initial months were not quite easy as local people were not habituated to non government organization from outside the region (luckily!!) and we came with the national capital tag. Also was angst, more so amongst state authorities against people from mainland India conducting research and not bothering to even share the outcomes. As months passed the initial jittery attitude gave way to warmth and cooperation.

I was closely associated with our efforts with SHGs. Towards this we went through available books and articles, interacted with people working on the issue as also attended capacity building sessions on the subject. This however was just the beginning.

The Self Help Group Size. Most of the reading material pertaining to Self Help Groups stipulates the size of ten to fifteen members. This however was not the case in South Garo Hills. The average village size we came across was thirty to forty households spread over three to four square kilometers in an undulating terrain. It was difficult to get people together regularly and we after some deliberations initiated working with Self Help Groups having less than ten – including in a couple of cases with five members. The Self Help Groups did function efficiently but we ran into problems when they were to be a part of the banking system as the bank documents mention a minimum of ten members. The initial hiccups were overcome after deliberations with bank personnel that stretched on for longish hours fuelled by cups of sweet local tea. These were sorted out and we have traveled further up the road since - with the bank.

Female Self Help Groups. Available material and prevalent norms suggest Self Help Groups consisting solely of female members to be significantly stronger than Self Help Groups consisting of only males or of both male and female members. We, however, taking into consideration the matrilineal Garo society and the prevalent sexual equality went ahead with helping foster the loose groups of people (including male groups and groups having both male and female members) who approached us to robust self help groups. During the period though more groups having males have broken down than have flourished; we have been able to espouse a male inclusive Self Help Group programme.

Books. Literature and norms suggest maintenance of a set of eight to ten books for each Self Help Group. We were very slow with the books in the initial stages and on trying to understand as the reason behind the same I realized that our team itself was not highly comfortable with the idea of regularly recording financial dealings. After deliberations within and beyond the team the number of books was brought down to five and even these were introduced in a staggered manner complimented by capacity building sessions. We realize now that this is not sufficient and we need to work with the Self Help Groups to introduce furthers books that meet their needs as of today; these are far more complicated. However we expect that with the synergies from our and Self Help Group learning over the period we will be able to devise a method to overcome this lacunae.
Equality – Social and Economic. Books available hint towards facilitating separate Self Help Groups for people in different economic strata within the same village. On account of my high levels of ignorance pertaining to social issues and local language in the initial stages of my stay in South Garo Hills we had fostered Self Help Groups which did not met the criteria. I did not try to make any amends and also since have kept these criteria at abeyance as the excellent functioning of these Self Help Groups made me aware of the inherent equality within the society. If two people from different strata are working together and enjoying the process why should I “an outsider” interfere. While we may not have been able to work with the poorest of the poor we have restrained from applying our value judgments learning in turn from the Garo society.

We have since also made recommendations to the office of the State commissioner for Self Help Groups to take into consideration peculiarities of the region, look upon them as strengths and learn from them in lieu of the current approach of trying to paint the whole country with the same brush.

These learning from our association with Garo people are an ongoing process and the beginning has indeed been rewarding.

Acknowledging the invaluable support of all my colleagues in the jourey with SHGs May 2004 onwards.

Each of the images are of Panda village of South Garo Hills, taken during April 2007 by Pankaj Sekhsaria. Thanks Pankaj.

For sharing agreements and disagreements please write to Nimesh at nimesh.ved@gmail.com or contact Meghalaya Field Base at 03639 222187

Interactions on Participation, Communications and Participatory Communications.

I had transversed across my country without being familiar with either the participants or the organizers to be a part of a workshop focusing on participatory communications during September 2008. However two aspects were clear in the first session and these made me realize the usefulness of my decision ~
· This was not going to be a “Talk in the air” workshop like some others I have in the recent past been a party to.
· Sheer diversity amongst the participants in respect of age, experience and sector of involvement would make it a fascinating experience. On attempting to draw a parallel to the diversity of the group the nearest I could come to was a railway platform.

The workshop provided me space to reflect on our actions of past four years at our Meghalaya and Mizoram field bases in a different setting and with a novel perspective. When co participants, working on issues ranging from Hiv Aids to Theatre, were sharing their experiences I many a times went back to our initial office in Meghalaya, besides the coconut tree with about two dozen chicken trotting around, wondering what if we had laid the foundation in a different fashion!

I share some moments or aspects that interested or confused me.

We had the task of defining a word and then sharing it of course! It was interesting how each of the 27 of us had a different notion of a single word that we believed was used by us frequently. The sector we were associated with coloured our definitions! We then got to discussing whether it was possible to freeze definitions and if it was, was there a need? Encouraging deliberations and creating space for different opinions is of greater utility than arriving at a uniform definition. Definitions hinge on people, perceptions, context, situations and other variables. Rights ~ we tried to define, in the beginning, in a language friendly to us. I put it as thus “Freedom to undertake actions that bring no harm to any object and living being”.

Entrance to the Environment Education Centre, the venue for the workshop at Talegaon.

We discussed different approaches of change agents ~ Charity approach (giver and receiver), Welfare approach (manager and beneficiary) and Rights approach (duty bearer and rights holder) and different levels of participation in these actions ~ Active participation (self directed, shared), Passive participation (consulted, informed) and Non participation (decoration, tokenism, manipulation). While these boxes and matrices looked impressive on the board they got me thinking on how different programmes within our office espoused dissimilar levels of participation and whether a conscious shift was feasible! Regarding the approach I wondered whether it was possible to have “ideal participation” in course of our programmes without implementing them at the same vigour at our office! As I shared this with co participants I recalled Mr. Fernandez’s working papers that succinctly put forth the issue. We talk of equity in dealing with people but do we have it in our office?

Another aspect that had me pondering was how our perceptions shape our communications and thus our endeavors. Two examples brought this out in an impressive manner.
· Many times people, we want to work with or we work with, we refer to as 'target group'.
· Most programmes working with pregnant women refer to them as ‘sick’.
How we communicate to and of people, we work with or desire to work with, shapes our actions as well. Targeted and sick people are subjected to our programmes and not active participants in them. I recalled a discussion I had been a part of, a few years ago, focusing on the impact of how the manner in which she/he was referred to by her/his superior, had on an employee. The word “colleague” stood a world apart from “subordinate”.

During interactions where we
· Discussed facilitation as being separate from manipulation and emergence of facipulation!
· Undertook an activity to bring forth the issue of “push and pull” which we bring in people’s lives!
I realized how pertinent it was to respect and work towards generating synergies from the amazing diversity we are blessed with, on aspects ranging from the colleagues in the office to the natural resources; rather than trying to bring about uniformity and as a corollary strangling life out of them!

The neighbouring environs of the venue that lies between Pune and Lonawala in Maharashtra.

Talking of the individual actions, in course of the workshop, I saw with awe the amazing songs and dance sequences, by co participants, that were undertaken as energy infusers but meant much more. The confidence levels of many of the co participants as they shared incidents of their lives in the course of “interactions on injustice” had me silently admiring their guts. The debates that we had each day as a part of the workshop spilled over during tea breaks and other times. These debates; where we explained our stands, changed them or even stopped participating, brought out for me the need to encourage the practice with the people we work with and before that with colleagues! The spilling over helped me to open up and discuss personal situations with individuals and small groups; this would have been difficult otherwise. During the evening time when we had an option to share our efforts I facilitated an interactive slide show focusing on interactions of people with natural resources in Meghalaya. It was an invigorating experience to discuss, without using text, ~ fishing, shifting cultivation, jack fruits, carnivorous plants with co participants hailing from different parts of our country.

Throughout we discussed tools used in communication by organizations working in different sectors. These ranged from wall paintings to story telling; however Community Based Theatre where a group is acquainted with skill sets pertaining to theatre and it then decides the issues it wants to address by way of these skills and Collage where clippings are used from magazines and newspapers to communicate sans writing interested me the most. We then discussed how participatory communication talks of handing over decisions on tools to be used for communication to people we desire to work with. It depends on the level of involvement we desire people to have. The notion is to encourage these people to be producers of ideas rather than producing ideas at our end and them being the end consumers!


Thanks Marinha for the sharing pictures and editing the draft.


For discussions and criticisms ~ nimesh.ved@gmail.com

Visit to Guwahati Zoo

I visited the Guwahati (Assam) zoo recently. This was primarily to observe species that I dont get to see (easily!) in the amazing rain forests here. This would then help me talk about them in course of our regular communications focussing on wildlife with people.

While moving from one enclosure to another I felt as if the occupants were asking questions (amongst themselves of course!).

Sharing some of them ~

why do they first put him inside and then feed him, while we starve outside !

why dont you wake up and see the interesting specimen (from the very species that brought us here) that has today come to see us ?

why do they first wear glasses over their eyes and then have that circular glass within a metal frame to look at us and that too with one eye !

why is this bed hard and hot !

For details email Nimesh.ved@gmail.com or mobile 91 94361 56458.

Newsletters.

We have shared of working towards generating synergies from partnerships with existing organizations and institutions. Besides our regular programmes with schools and other institutions ~ organizations we also attempt to share our views and experiences with the people at large in the region. This is done with a view to primarily encourage people to discuss these issues; that are usually on the back burner.

The Evangelical Church of Maraland (ECM) is one such institution we are glad to have worked with. We have at regular intervals attempted to put forth our views, on issues affecting the environment though Epatha. Epatha is the weekly newsletter in Mizo brought out by the New Saiha local church at Saiha affiliated to the ECM.

While we still have a lot to learn from KTP and ECM today we share a gist of the attempt.

1. 21st October 2007 ~ Global warming ~ Khawvel pumpui lumna.
2. 2nd December 2007 ~ Environmental Concerns ~ Environment chung chang.
3. 9th December 2007 ~ Conserving our natural resource wealth ~ Kan ram hausaknate i hum halh ang u.
4. 27th January 2008 ~ Stopping hunting ~ Ramvah bansan.
5. 6th April 2008 ~ Conservation of forests ~ Ramngaw humhalh.
6. 4th May 2008 ~ Stopping unsustainable fishing ~ Luia sangha man lo tura hriattirna.
7. 15th June 2008 ~ Green Mizoram Day.
8. 29th June 2008 ~ Conservation efforts in Saiha ~ Humhalhnaa hmalakna.
9. 6th July 2008 ~ Environment News.

The efforts are still on and sincere thanks are due to ~
1. Khrizypa Thytlia Py (KTP).
2. Evangelical Church of Maraland.

For details ~
Samrakshan ~ Mizoram ~ Email: Nimesh.ved@gmail.com,
Phone: Office 03835 222229 & Nimesh 94361 56458.

Wagtail

Walking up to the Helipad at Saiha, on an invigorating Saiha morning, i saw a beautiul bird, the plummage of which appeared to have been splashed with beautiful strokes of black and white by a painter. After i moved up to the Helipad, and had been there for little less than an hour, i saw a similar bird (doubt it was the same one).


Checking up in the books, after having seen it patiently with my binoculars, I saw it was the ~
English : White Wagtail (Motacilla alba leucopsis)
Mizo: Khawmual chinrang.
Date was 16th September 2008 and the time about 5.45am.

I saw it (on the approach road to the Helipad) fluttering. It flew about 2 to 3 feet above the ground and then barely settled before setting off again. This I saw it repeat about 10 times before it flew away. Whether it was catching insects during these flights I could not see with my binoculars but the rains have enabled wild growth on both sides of the road that harbour insects.

It however noticed ~

a. eyes that appeared like black spots on a white face.

b. breast that had a black colour marking resembling a heart.

c. “V” markings on the tail.

Of the bird lists made for Saiha and the Blue Mountain National Park, nearest PA; (and accessed by me) only one of them by Sudhir Shivaram (http://www.thejunglelook.com/) mentions the White wagtail. While Salim Ali’s The Book of Indian Birds says of this “Winter visitor arriving about September / October, departing March/ April”.

I got ready to welcome other winged winter visitors.

For Details ~
Samrakshan ~ Saiha ~ Email: Nimesh.ved@gmail.com.
Phone: (mizo) Manuna 94363 93394 and (english) Nimesh 94361 56458.

Discussing Primates.

Our newest partner school is the Presbyterian School at Saiha. We recently organized our second session with them ~ introducing primates by way of colouring.

Sharing some images.

hmm....seems interesting ......

but why is he wearing a frog t-shirt and discussing primates.....

gosh..... he has filled up the black board.....

now... where is the monkey i have to colour

have they forgotten to include it in the chart ......

ok...here it ... looks familiar....

We thank

a. all the students and the principal of the Presbyterian School for their cooperation. b. Zoo Outreach Organization for providing the materials.

For further details

a. email nimesh.ved@gmail.com b. call (mizo) Manuna 94363 93394 (eng) Nimesh 94361 56458.

Palak Dil.

We at Samrakshan and Forest Department of MADC did contribute towards having Palak Lake (Pala Tipo or Palak Dil) included in "Potential and Existing RAMSAR sites in India" a book by M Zafar Ul Islam and Asad R Rahmani. The same has been released by the Vice President of India recently at New Delhi. According to the authors " Under the Important Bird Areas Programme (IBA) of the BNHS and BirdLife International we have prepared a list of additional 135 wetlands which are potential Ramsar Sites. This exercise is done objectively taking into consideration IBA and Ramsar criteria. We have identified potential Ramsar Sites mainly based on their biodiversity values, which was the original aim of the Ramsar Convention. We have also tried to cover the whole country and all biogeographic regions and their provinces. "

We share some relevant details.

State: Mizoram
District: Saiha
Coordinates: 22º 20' 25" N, 92º 56' 33" E
Altitude: c. 270 m
Rainfall: > 2,000 mm
Temperature: 7 ºC to 30 ºC
Biogeographic Zone: North-East
RAMSAR Criteria: 1 (Wetland is representative and unique wetland)
IBA Criteria: A3 (Biome 9: Indo-Chinese Tropical Moist Forest)
RAMSAR Wetland Type: O (Permanent freshwater lake)

Palak Dil.

The Mizoram state has three types of (natural) lakes: valley lakes, tectonic/landslide lakes and artificial reservoirs, but the only lake of significance is Palak Dil, which is a natural lake in a depression in the hills. Palak Dil may possibly be a combination of valley and tectonic lakes. Locally in Mizoram, lakes are called dils. There are many such dils scattered all over the state, but they are tiny pools or marshy depressions such as Rengdil, Tamdil and Mampui Dil (Choudhury 2002). The Palak Lake is situated within the Mara Autonomous district Council, which is a region inhabited by the Mara Tribe. The Maras are distinct from the majority Mizos and in the Mara language the Palak lake is referred to as Pala Tipa.

The Palak Dil, the largest lake in Mizoram is situated about 100 Km from the district headquarter of Saiha and situated within the Tuipang sub division. The dimension of the lake is 400 m x 600 m, and depth is about 13 m (Datta-Roy et al. 2007). Two small mountain streams flow into the lake, and one streams flows out, ensuring a constant supply of fresh water. The forest around the lake is Tropical Wet Evergreen. Many of the nearby hills are covered by jhum (slash and burn cultivation), bamboo brakes as well as woody vegetation. An interesting feature of the forests surrounding the lake is the presence of low lying swamps which transform in to shallow lakes during the monsoon. The lake is surrounded by moderately steep hills. The area has Dipterocarp-dominated Tropical Evergreen Forest. The forests are rich in palms, rattans, dense cane-brakes and reeds along the lake margin (Birand and Pawar 2001).

The lake has many myths and legends attached to its origin and is also revered and feared by the locals as an abode of evil spirits. The taboos have, however, been diluted over the years and now-a-days people from the adjoining villages visit the lake to catch fish regularly (Datta Roy et al 2007).

The closest human settlements are the villages of Phura (6 km) and Tokalo (7.5 km). Access to the lake is through Phura which is located about 100 km from Saiha, the district headquarters.
The lake is situated within the land (locally referred to as Rum) of Tokalo village and the Tokalo village council (the grassroots governance institution) is responsible for regulating the use of the lake as well as the land and forests surrounding it. Beyond the lake and towards Burma lie large swathes of forest that are exposed to very limited and low intensity local use. Recent research in this area has revealed the presence of 42 species of mammals and 136 species of avifauna including rare and threatened primates like the Phayre’s leaf monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus phayrei) and the Western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock hoolock) (Datta Roy et al 2007).


Avifauna.
Over 70 species of birds were recorded from the region during a three day IBA survey (Birand and Pawar 2001), though the bird life is certainly much richer. A later survey by Datta-Roy et.al.(2007) recorded 136 species of avifauna from the lake and its surrounding forests spread across three seasons. Common moorhen can be regularly seen with occasional sightings of the threatened Darter. Other migratory birds, though have not been recorded. Most of the other species recorded are forest birds such as the Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis, Grey Peacock Pheasant Polyplectron bicalcaratum, Pale-chinned Flycatcher Cyornis poliogenys, Black-backed Forktail Enicurus immaculatus, and Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush Garrulax monileger, Chestnut-winged Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus, White-rumped Shama Copsychus saularis, Red-headed Trogon Harpactes erythrocephalus, Long-tailed Broadbill Psarisomus dalhousiae, Silver-breasted Broadbill Serilophus lunatus, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush Garrulax pectoralis, Bay Woodpecker Blythipicus pyrrhotis, Orange-bellied Chloropsis Chloropsis hardwickii, White-throated Bulbul Alophoixus flaveolus and Nepal Fulvetta Alcippe nipalensis. and Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush Garrulax monileger.

Other key fauna.
Information on the mammalian fauna from a a recent survey confirms the presence of 19 species of mammals in the forest adjoining the Palak lake. It includes Leopard Panthera pardus, Asiatic Black Bear Ursus thibetanus, Dhole Cuon alpinus, Phayre’s leaf monkey Trachypithecus obscurus phayrei, Western hoolock gibbon Hoolock hoolock hoolock Sambar Cervus unicolor, Barking deer Muntiacus muntjac and civet cats.A solitary Asian elephant Elephas maximus also resides in the vicinity of the lake (Datta-Roy et. al. 2007). Reptiles and amphibian fauna information for the Palak lake is available from Pawar and Birand (2001). 9 amphibian species and 21 reptiles were recorded in the vicinity of the lake. Species such as the Red necked keelback Rhabdophis subminiatus, Spotted Draco Draco maculates, South east asian giant tortoise Manouria emys, Yellow tortoise Indotestudo elongata and South east asian softshell Amyda cartilaginea were recorded.


We are thankful to people in Saiha, BNHS and Dr. Rahmani.

For further information on the book ~ http://www.bnhs.org/

For further information Samrakshan ~ (Mizo) 94363 93394 ~ (Eng) 94361 56458 ~ email nimesh.ved@gmail.com