Jammu & Kashmir, 30 September, 2020

Biodiversity conservation efforts across the globe are increasingly being centered around local communities in and around the Protected Areas (PA) dependent on the natural resources of the PAs. The Hirpora wildlife sanctuary in the Pir Panjal range of the Western Himalayas and the Kazinag National Park is no different, abundant with several species of plants, birds and threatened mammals; including the majestic markhor (Capra falconeri) or the wild goat, which is endemic to Kashmir.

These protected areas are annually visited by hundreds of migratory herders (Gujjar and Bakkarwal). These migratory herder communities together with the fringe communities also occupy the same habitat as the resident wildlife species and hence any conservation action has to account for them too for long term positive impacts.

The dependency of the fringe villages on natural resources ranges from fuelwood for domestic energy requirement, to fodder for animals, and a variety of Non-Timber Forest Product’s (NTFP) for varied uses. However, the unsustainable use of forest resources, has led to degradation of natural habitats of these forests. In this blog feature, we describe how Wildlife Trust of India in its Kashmir Markhor Recovery Project is addressing the key social and economic issues pertinent to the dependence of the local as well as migratory herder communities on “Critical Markhor Habitats”.

In our project areas about 90.4% of the people use fuelwood as the major source of energy for cooking and 94.76% for heating purposes respectively. In both sedentary and migratory communities, the women folk were mainly enganged in fuelwood collection and performing the daily household chores attributed much to- the poor access to the clean alternative fuel, more free time, closeness to the PA. This necessitated the need to support for alternative source of fuelwood by way of sustainable linkage for alternative livelihood and we started targeted engagement especially with the women folk of both the communities.

The Wildlife Trust of India with the support of Department of Wildlife Protection (J&K) and Serenity Trust is in the process of exploring and converging the various existing development programs of the Government of India with a direct conservation development linkage for effective biodiversity conservation in the PA, with the migratory herders as well as the local sedentary communities that are dependent on the resources of markhor habitats being the primary stakeholders of such convergence. Making them partners in the conservation of markhor is the key aim of this component of the project. The positive changes can only be achieved through changing their perception towards markhor and wildlife conservation while reducing their dependence on forest resources to enhance conservation prospects of markhor.

Looking beyond Improved Cook Stoves (ICS) as a means of reducing fuelwood consumption through ecologically appropriate alternatives, the Hon’ Prime Minister of India launched PMUY (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana), on May 1, 2016. The scheme was , was targeted at replacing  unclean cooking fuel mostly used in rural India with the clean and more efficient LPG, by providing LPG connections in the name of women in BPL (Below Poverty Line) households across the country. This was almost tailor-made to suit our conservation aims of convergence with an existing government scheme. As per the 2011 census, nearly 121 million households were still using the inefficient and polluting chulhas. Further, as per a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, smoke produced by these cook stoves is equivalent to burning 400 cigarettes an hour – a major health hazard particularly for rural women and children.

(Disclaimer: Pic was taken pre-covid, hence no mask)

Once we established the possibility of convergence, WTI and the J&K Department of Wildlife Protection initiated the process of linking inhabitants of villages on the fringes of Kazinag National Park under PMUY. Since the extended phase of the scheme had the provision to cover all households falling under the arch of ‘forest dwellers’, WTI joined hands with the Bismillah Nawab Bharat Gas, Baramulla (one of the nodal agency responsible for the distribution of subsidized LPG connections) and ensured that about 781 subsidized connections had been distributed in our project communities. The connections were released in the name of the women member of the family having no previous LPG connection.

(Disclaimer: Pic was taken pre-covid, hence no mask)

We came to Babagail (a village nestled on the fringes of the kazinag National Park) to meet 27-year-old Hajra Begum (name changed), among the first few women to have been linked as a beneficiary under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) by Wildlife Trust of India.

Hameeda Begum’s three-room house was still under construction when our team arrived to assess the impact of the linkage. She disappeared into the kitchen as we pulled off our shoes to enter her home, and minutes later the hot sugar-tea was waiting before us.

We asked how she had prepared the tea so quickly – and she looked above the gas cylinder where a sticker proudly announced that the LPG had been provided under ‘Ujjwala’, as the PMUY scheme is commonly known.

“I have got a new lease of life since the cylinder arrived”, she said, adding, “since cooking, or even making tea, over the traditional chulha (clay stove) would have been taxing for me in my condition” (she is five months pregnant). Lighting a traditional fuelwood chulha takes a few minutes and one can only cook sitting on the floor, and Hameeda Begum has to prepare meals for a family of five, twice a day. This means spending four to five hours every day inhaling the smoke from the fuelwood stove, and exposing her two children to the smoke as well. The gas cylinder has definitely made her life easy, she declared. She was quick to add that this was the first time that she had availed any benefit from a central government-sponsored scheme.

The Protected areas are not only the source to fetch fuelwood for household but acts as a station of sisterhood for these women where they share and vent out their suppressed feelings with each other during their fuelwood collection chores, where they discuss and try to bring to a resolution their social grievances. This station of catharsis has now metamorphosed into their SHGs where they now attend the weekly meetings, regular lending and borrowing to develop a support system and share information.

Awareness remains one of the most important tools through which we created a positive change in people’s perceptions and increased the adoption of energy efficient cooking methods. The intervention is also a gendered issue since women always share the major load in the management of the household chores virtually in all cultures, and this community was no different. To sustain the changed behavior in the intervention, the communities are being linked with other central government schemes and programmes which are convergent to our conservation goals, for e.g. the NRLM (National Rural Livelihood mission). With this community owned and community driven empowerment scheme, we are exploring the options of SHG’s to augment their roles in a win – win scenario for the women folk.

To summarize, better health and other economic impacts of easy access to subsidized LPG connections can be achieved only by the effective and the sustainable use of these facilities by all members of these communities. In our convergence effort, it is just not about providing LPGs-it is about changing the mindset and encouraging people to use them. Achieving lasting behavior and social change remains essential to sustaining the development outcomes of the intervention. In addition to broader health, economic and environmental outcomes of the intervention, direct employment opportunities are being created within the community for LPG distributers appointed to serve the villages under Ujjwala. A robust distribution mechanism is being established within the community to ensure its easy availability.

A very welcome result has been the empowerment of women and girls. Under the Ujjwala linkage, the safety and the security of the women have been addressed. These women in the process of fetching fuelwood had to traverse long distances and would occasionally and inadvertently come in conflict with the wild animals. The time utilized in collecting fuelwood is now being invested in more productive household work. Under the umbrella of the SHGs, the linkages are being cemented with mainstream institutions, including banks, and Government departments to address their livelihoods issues. The markhor recovery project through strong conservation-development linkages is paving way for women empowerment in the communities nestled on the fringes of Kazinag National Park and Hirpora Wildlife sanctuary.

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Sameer Khazir, the author of this blog is a sociologist and has been working as a Field Officer with Wildlife Trust of India’s Kashmir Markhor Recovery Project since the last four years. He is passionate about community conservation and can be reached at sameer@wti.org.in

All pic credits @Sameer Khazir/ WTI