RT Conference Proceedings
SR 00
A1 Ruffner, Jennifer
A1 Barbery Smith, Ennis
T1 Healing the Broken Spine: A Community-led Conservation Initiative  in Garo Hills, Meghalaya, India
YR 2019
FD November 13-14, 2018
SP 1
OP 13
K1 Wildlife Conservation
K1 Forest Management
K1 Meghalaya, Garo Tribe
K1 Community Based Conservation
K1 Village Reserve Forest
K1 GHADC, Wildlife Trust of India
K1 natural heritage
K1 community participation
K1 local communities
K1 social and economic aspects
K1 legal protection
K1 indigenous people
K1 human rights
K1 india
AB PART 1. ADOPTING A LANDSCAPE APPROACH -   Stewardship of Biocultural Landscapes in the 21st Century: Forging Community-Based Approaches ///     Garo Hills, part of the Meghalaya elephant landscape in India, includes the Garo Hills Elephant Reserve and five elephant corridors, supporting about 800-1000 elephants. The Nokrek National Park along with a network of forest patches connecting to Balpakram National Park forms the backbone of biodiversity of the region and is designated as Garo Green Spine. In Garo Hills only 7-8% of the forested area is controlled by the Forest Department; the remaining area is owned by local communities under the jurisdiction of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC). Age-old agricultural practices like slash-and-burn cultivation (jhum) have fragmented the forests, affecting wildlife movement and increasing human-wildlife conflict, especially with elephants. Despite the dependence on such agricultural practices crucial for core sustenance, the Garo tribes take it upon themselves to stitch together this ‘spine’ through a community-led conservation initiative.  This paper proposes to capture the spirit behind the unique initiative by these communities along with Wildlife Trust of India and World Land Trust, which work in partnership with the GHADC in protecting community lands as ‘Village Reserve Forests’. This remarkable way of conservation has resulted in protection of over 2800 hectares of forest patches and habitat restoration of another 200 hectares. This is an affirmation of indigenous rights, self-governmentand community empowerment creating a multi-level impact resulting in not just wildlife habitat protection but also a positive social impact on the communities with regards to their livelihood and lifestyle. Such conservation measures can be a big step towards sustainable environmental protection in the long term.
T2 2018 US/ICOMOS Symposium "Forward Together: A Culture-Nature Journey Towards More Effective Conservation in a Changing World"
ED San Francisco, California
AV Published
LK http://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/2287/
UL https://worldheritageusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Menon-et-al.-2019-US-ICOMOS-Proceedings.pdf