reconstructing an endangered site
In many ways, the dynamic political journey of human rights and the rights of nature has been intertwined with the fate of the Manas World Heritage Site (Manas WHS). This UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site has stood the ravages of time. Manas WHS is part of the core zone of the 2,400 sq km Manas Tiger Reserve that forms a transboundary landscape along the Terai belt in Lower Assam, India. It is bound in the north by the forests of Bhutan, River Sankosh and West Bengal in the west, and the administrative boundaries of the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) Assam in the east and south respectively. The recorded history of Manas dates back to late 15th century when the renowned Vaishnavaite saint Shri Madhabdeb established the Barpeta Satra (an institutional centre associated with the Vaishnavite spiritual movement in India), wherein the preserved sacred texts mention a “dense forest”
beyond the boundaries of the Barpeta human settlement (Choudhury, 2007). Since then, land ownership has changed hands from Indian royalty to British foresters, later becoming a prized possession of the Assam Forest Department in the post-independence era.
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The historical evolution of Manas suggests a linkage between forest resource alienation and the mobilisation of local tribes. The colonial British government affected the territory dominated by the Bodo (tribe indigenous to the area) in at least two ways: by using the forest as a revenue source and by settling outside workers in the region, thereby outnumbering the Bodo people. This had the unintended consequence of the political mobilisation of the Bodo people. In all this, Manas became a contested space for the possession and dispossession of the Bodo people. Within a few years of its inclusion as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Manas ended up on the “danger list” owing to the ongoing unrest (Goswami & Ganesh, 2014).
The site’s scenic beauty includes a range of forested hills, alluvial grasslands and tropical evergreen forests that provide a contiguous transnational landscape with critical and viable habitats for rare and endangered species, including tigers, greater one-horned rhinos, swamp deer, pygmy hogs and Bengal florican. The peace and stability in the region and the revival of Manas also helped in supporting the revival of local economy through tourism, which is intrinsically linked to nature-based skills such as silkworm rearing, bamboo crafts, nature-inspired music and performing arts that is transferred inter-generationally through women in the local community (Saikia, 2011; Das et al., 2013).
In 1985, the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (391 sq km) was inscribed in the list of World Heritage Sites (UNESCO) as a site of outstanding universal value under criteria numbers (ii), (iii) and (iv). However, in 1992 UNESCO-IUCN reviewed the status of the site and decided to tag it as a “World Heritage Site in Danger” due to damages that had occurred to park infrastructure and other properties as a result of Bodo agitation since 1988 (Vigne & Martin, 1991; Goswami & Ganesh, 2011). In June 2011, Manas regained its original status of World Heritage Site (Ghosh
& Kumar, 2012). The 20-year armed conflict coincided with a period of civic unrest in which the Bodo people fought for their community identity. Studies indicate that several biodiversity hotspots in the world are currently in areas of significant political volatility and armed conflict (Hanson et al., 2009). Such conflicts often result from the intentional and unintentional exploitation of wildlife and other natural resources, such as forest timber, by conflicting parties (Goswami & Ganesh, 2011).
With human security concerns taking priority, financial resources and international aid is often diverted to peacekeeping, rehabilitation and humanitarian efforts, thereby marginalising conservation activities and priorities. Manas met the same fate during the insurgency period that lasted for almost a decade and a half from 1989 until 2003. In 2005, when the first elected local government was formed, park infrastructure was in shambles, and there was virtually no protection.
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The 100-odd rhino population had been completely decimated, and more than 90% of the park infrastructure had been destroyed (Debonnet et al., 2008; TCP, 2013).
What emerged as a ray of hope was the evidence of persistent wildlife (camera trap studies yielded signs of tigers in the area) (Goswami
& Ganesh, 2014). International concern and support (the UNESCO World Heritage Committee sent monitoring missions and called for annual status reports from the Government of India) and local political will to take up the challenges enabled a turnaround. First and foremost, protection of the site was of major concern. As the Forest Department was extremely understaffed, a unique conservation model was adopted wherein local youth from fringe villages were deployed to take up surveillance and anti-poaching activities inside the park. Such youth (mostly men) had experienced armed conflict in their lifetime, and several were motivated to surrender their firearms and take up conservation instead. In a way, the alternative livelihood support provided immediately in the aftermath of a war was a major boost towards lasting peace in the area. At the same time, sustained nudging from UNESCO, international conservation agencies and local non-governmental organisations helped in formulating a scientifically backed wildlife restoration plan including the highly ambitious ‘wild-to-wild’ rhino and swamp deer translocation and population augmentation programmes at Manas. Funding from the central and state government was channelled to rebuild park infrastructure and adequate human resources were recruited and posted in the area.
A key method utilised was to catalyse empowered community institutions to protect forests and wildlife (Feeney et al., 1990; Horwich & Lyon, 2007). Several governance models facilitated success, changing the situation from open access to an informal community co-managed system and, subsequently, into organised zones of wilderness and multiple-use zones in Manas WHS and forest fringe areas. It was a multi-pronged strategy that included a focus on women in the forest fringe villages of Manas. Women were offered opportunities for skills upgrading and alternative livelihood options. The Bodo women enjoy equal status in their community and have also been influential in the economic
upliftment and political discourse in the region (Talukdar, 2012). The fact that they were integrated in the conservation narrative helped the park to recover in a much shorter time than expected.
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