Creating regional community protection for a Biosphere Reserve

Summary
Creating community protection addressed the problem of major deforestation in Assam, India forests due to a complex political problem of militants threatening government forestry staff. Community meetings, seminars for communities, NGOs and government and Biosphere celebrations helped communities form groups and become strong conservationist partners to support the Assam government. When an accord was signed community groups worked with the new tribal government.
Classifications
Region
Scale of implementation
Ecosystem
Theme
Challenges
Challenges
Beneficiaries
Building blocks
How do the building blocks interact?
Impacts
Following many community meetings, community-based organizations (CBOs) began to develop on their own to work with the project. They began to work on conservation actions and livelihood actions as we presented them with possibilities. In some cases they began to patrol areas and/or stop encroachers and confiscate illegal materials on their own cognizance. During the first Manas Biosphere celebration, the on-site communities showed resistance to anyone other than the on-site community organizing the celebrations, setting a precedent for local control over the following celebrations. Villager participation increased with each celebration from 5,000 to 8,000 to 20,000 to 35,000 participants. When the project negotiated for establishing a forest protection force under Green Forest Conservation (CBO) at Kachugaon with the new Bodoland Territorial Council in 2005, other community groups began patrolling their regions as volunteers. Later they were incorporated into the system. Finally, a complete census of the golden langurs showed an increase from 1500 langurs in 1999 to 5600 in 2009. Elephant and tiger surveys also showed population stability.
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