The two-day Nagaland Community Conserved Area Meet 2024 organized by the Nagaland Community Conserve Area Forum (NCCAF) concluded on 20 June by adopting a six point resolution at the final session of the meet.
The meet was hosted by Clark Theological College, Aolijen, Mokokchung and sponsored by Kenono Foundation, LEMSACHENLOK, Kalpavriksh, North East Network and the Nature Conservancy.
The resolution drafting committee of the meet presented a six-point resolution which was approved by the house. The house resolved that CRs should not be a mechanism for support to CCAs in the state and that the government should have a separate policy for support of CCAs without any further declaration of CRs in the state.
It was also resolved that while government and other agencies introduce new/alien species through projects, they should firstly do a comprehensive environmental, social and economic research and assessment on the impact of the species to the local environment.
NCCAF also resolved to identify key species in the state and create a strategy for their conservation at the state level. Further, the forum reaffirmed to work at a landscape level with a collective effort to create state-level corridors to safeguard the rich biodiversity and provide a safe movement for flora and fauna.
Inclusion of women and vulnerable sections of the society into the decision-making process of biodiversity conservation at all levels was also included in the resolution.
There are 34 Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) in Nagaland, and 230 delegates registered for the Nagaland Community Conserved Area Meet 2024.
Earlier, special guest Alemtemshi Jamir IAS, Retd. Chief Secretary of Nagaland and Neema Pathak Brome, Secretary, Kalpavriksh & South Asia Coordinator, ICCA Consortium spoke on “Understanding Community Reserves in the context of CCAs in Nagaland.”
Neema spoke about some of the concerns about community reserves stating that there is a lack of clarity between Community Reserves and Community Conserved Areas (CCAs). She said that villages should not be forced to sign MoUs for Community Reserves (CRs) for the sole purpose of availing support. She said that a clear and comprehensive policy on CRs and CCAs needs to be adopted and added that the government needs to play a crucial and critical role as a facilitator and advisor.
Alemtemshi Jamir in his talk said that there is a looming danger of climate change and that CCAs bank our hopes against the fight against global warming. He said that there is a window of hope to increase CCAs since the migration trends in the villages are continuing and agricultural activities, especially jhum cultivation, are decreasing. Alemtemshi also stressed on the need of having proper conceptual clarity and policies concerning CCAs.
G Thong and Y Nuklu Phom, Advisors NCCAF spoke on “Collective envisioning for support of CCAs in the state.”
Tokugha Sumi, Vice-chairman, NCCAF concluded the meet by pronouncing the vote of thanks.