question_answer 9)

 Answer the following questions in about 120 words.   (i) Describe how communities have conserved and protected forests and wildlife in India?   (ii) Write a note on good practices towards conserving forest and wildlife.  

Answer:

(i) The communities have conserved and protected forests and wildlife in India in the following ways—   (a) In Sariska Tiger Reserve Rajasthani villagers have fought against mining by citing the Wildlife Protection Act. In many areas villagers themselves are protecting habitats and explicitly rejecting government involvement.   (b) The famous Chipko Movement launched by the woman of Chamoli in Uttarakhand saved more than 12000 sq km area of forests just by hugging the trees when the lumberjacks attempted to cut them.   (c) Many states have launched the Joint Forest Management Programme to involve local communities in the management and restoration of degraded forests. Odisha was the first state to launch this programme.   (d) The inhabitants of five villages in the Alwar district of Rajasthan have declared about 1200 hectares of forest area as the 'Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri'. The community has declared their own set of rules and regulations which do not allow hunting and are protecting the wildlife against any outside encroachments.   (ii) Conservation of forests and wildlife was prevalent among the tribal communities and in villages in the name of nature worship. The cultural beliefs of the communities helped to preserve the plant and animal species without creating any harm to the ecosystem, e.g., the tuisi plants and the banana trees are worshipped by many people even today.    Certain beliefs of traditional communities in the name of God, has helped in the preservation of plants and animals. Certain plants and animals were considered sacred and kept in temples. The cow is considered as Kamdhenu, which has prevented the slaughtering of cows in India. There are large scale people's movements like 'Chipko Movement' in the Himalayas. Narmada Bachao Andolan clearly indicates the involvement of local communities in the conservation of forests and wildlife.   Therefore, all conservation practices and programmes should be people friendly, economically acceptable and ecofriendly. The life of the local communities and tribal people is intimately related to forests and any developmental projects undertaken by the government should not be at the cost of the destruction of forests and livelihoods of these people. Hence, the voice of these people should be taken into consideration in the decision-making process.