Local stakeholders pledge to protect and preserve Intangki National Park

October 4, 2023 11 Views No Comment

16 villages around Nagaland’s only national park sign MoU with EFCC Dept

Morung Express News
Dimapur | October 4

Villages situated adjacent to or around the Intangki National Park (INP) have pledged to protect and preserve the largest and only national park in Nagaland. The villages— Beisumpuikam, Jalukiekam, Paijol, Songngou, Monglumukh, Pellang, Vonkitem, Lilen, New Beisumpui, Bongkolong, Nsenlwa, Khelma, New Soget, Ikeisingram, New Nkio and Sailhem signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change coinciding with the celebration of Wildlife Week 2023.

Y Kikheto Sema, Commissioner and Secretary, EFCC and Ved Pal Singh, Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLF) & Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF) signed the MoU on behalf of the Department at a programme organised at the INP Protection Camp on October 3. The Village Council Chairpersons signed on behalf of the 16 villages.

In the 4-point charter, the villages, while committing to collaborate with the government in conservation efforts, pledged to refrain from destructive activities in the INP and agreed “to make prohibitory orders in our respective villages to ban hunting and other activities not permitted by law.” The other key resolutions included partnering in the management of the INP, sharing relevant information by either party and supporting eco-development initiatives of the surrounding villages.

Commissioner & Secretary, Y Kikheto Sema, termed the charter an agreement to protect the Intangki forest for the future generations. He said that the essence of the agreement is to create awareness in the mind of the people to preserve biodiversity and stop killing wildlife. “Instead of killing the wildlife, why not develop wildlife tourism,” he said.

He added that it was the first time such a shared responsibility has been reached between the local stakeholders and the government to protect INP.

APCCF & CWLF, Ved Pal Singh held the year’s theme— Partnerships for wildlife conservation, as especially significant in the context of Nagaland where the state government has hardly any say in forest management owing to the vesting of ownership of the majority of the forests to the community. He said that conservation efforts serve as an indicator of human progress, he said, “At what level of maturity are we in today? Being human is about virtues and coexisting, giving and sharing space.”

K Akhang, President, Zeliangrong Baudi (Assam, Manipur & Nagaland), while hailing the occasion as a great initiative, shared his concern on illegal logging that is prevailing in the INP under the guise of collecting firewood. According to him, the government should fulfill the logging ban policy and that the people of Peren is also expected to cooperate with the government.

On encroachment at INP
Evasive was the reaction when confronted with questions related to encroachment in the INP. Replying to a query, the APCCF & CWLF maintained that the issue was being dealt at the highest level of the government and “things will move in the right direction.”

“I don’t want to create any confusion by saying yes or no,” he said, while adding that it is a “complex issue” that would take a lot of time to resolve.

Wildlife count
The Commissioner & Secretary, Kikheto tipped the elephant population in Nagaland, presently, at over 440. Around a half of it is in Intangki, around 120 in Wokha and around 70-80 in Mon.

CWLW, Pal Singh added that, based on a recent survey by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, wildlife population in the INP was “fairly sizable.” “Camera trapping exercise has revealed some very very encouraging and positive results,” he said.