Lenglong for Serow village

Kh Hitler Singh *

An awareness programme on conservation of forests and wildlife was organized at Lenglong village on 26th October 2016 under the aegis of Western Forest Division, Tamenglong.

The village is located in the North Western Part of Manipur just separated from Nagaland by the Barak River. The road distance is hardly 25 km from Tamei HQ but due to the road condition it took about two hours by light vehicle. The village is inhabited by Lengmei tribe consisting about 253 households.

The village was previously settled in the top of the hill ridges but since 1997 they came down near the River side where there is abundant area for wet cultivation of paddy.

The villagers are quite industrious and economically developed compare to other hill villages. The villagers had harvested teak which they have planted some twenty years back. They also got large income from selling Parkia roxburghii fruit. But many Parkia trees are now dying from diseases which cannot be combated effectively till date.

The exact cause of large scale dying of Parkia tree is not known yet but one of the possible inter-relation may be the decreasing number of insects eating bird species such as wood pecker, magpie, falcon, drongo etc. The village is also very rich in cardamom. Many vegetable such as chillies, pulse, pumpkins, brinjals are exported for sale at Tamei and Kangpokpi town.

The official team comprises Huri Golmei, DFO/WFD, Tamenglong, Nehemiah Panmei, Honorary Wildlife Warden, MK Pamei, Achung, Thoiba and myself. We started our journey from Tamenglong HQ by one gypsy and one Bolero Camper (both with special gear) at 12.30 PM and reached Lenglong at 6.30 PM on 25th October 2016.

On our arrival, the villagers led by the Church Pastor Tanlia accorded a warm welcome to the visiting team. At about 7 PM we were provided a quite heavy dinner. Later at around 7.30 PM we are again received with traditional dance and song with large number of participants.

On 26th October 2016, the one day awareness camp was held from 7 AM to 1 PM in three sessions with lunch break at 10.30 AM to 11 AM.

All the resource persons were trying to inculcate the love of wildlife and to persuade for preservation of forest found in the village for the good of present and future generations.

It is learnt that Serow (Sabeng) Capricornis sumatraensis are found in large number in the rugged hilly areas. Amur falcons are also migrated in large number but this year there was very less number as reported by the villagers.

Hunting is a practice in any hill village from time immemorial. Still hunting is a way of life for many people without considering the population of many endangered or Schedule I wild animals in their natural habitat. But the village never indulges in capturing of fish with harmful chemical or insecticide or using electric shock.

The visiting team instructed the village to work toward for wildlife conservation and eco-tourism. The team highlighted that village can be a model village of Serow (Sabeng) conservation in Manipur and can be work for the title of Serow Village or Land of Serow.

In Japan Serows were hunted to near extinction; but Government of Japan enacted Law to conserve it when the population come down to about 2000-3000. Now Serow Reserves are managed where the population of Serow is increased to a certain threshold number then selected hunting is permitted by the management authority with high hunting fee to the enthusiast tourists/hunters.

The hunting is strictly regulated by the Authority so that only the over mature individuals are taken off. Such practice can be implemented in Lenglong village when there is excess population of serows by properly planning a management plan for a community reserve in the village and revenue collected by regulated hunting can provide employment to some villagers.

Community Reserve is a protected area whose ownership is still vested with the community not with the Government. There shall be a management committee headed by the local elected or village chief and few members and one official from the concerned Forest Division as the member secretary of the Committee. The committee shall formulate a management plan for the reserve periodically for a period of five or ten years.

The outcome of the awareness programme is very much fruitful. The villagers had taken five resolutions for safeguarding the existing Forest and Wildlife. The villagers assured the visiting team that they shall discourage hunting and use of guns, air guns and catapults as far as possible in the village.