Abstract
Bioculturally significant plants, which have played a key role in sustaining the livelihoods of tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh, India, are facing threats from changing land use patterns, climatic aberrations and socioeconomic stressors. This study highlights two unique grassroots approaches to conserving these species and their associated cultural knowledge within the traditional land use systems of Arunachal Pradesh: Community Knowledge Gardens (CKGs) and Clan Reserve Forests (CRFs). Four CKGs and one CRF, transformed from existing traditional land use systems, were investigated in three socio-ecologically diverse landscapes of Nyishi, Adi and Monpa communities. Study participants, including both men and women, played an active role in devising locally compatible criteria and protocols for strengthening the conservation of key plant species within their traditional land use systems, through CKG and CRF approaches. A total of 86 plant species, conserved through the CKGs and 44 from the Adi CRF, were identified as having high food, ethnomedicinal and cultural values. The Shannon-Weaver index of richness of plant species conserved was highest in the Nyishi CKG, with a value of 38; while for Adi and Monpa it was 30 and 18, respectively. The pattern of Shannon-Weaver diversity index was in the order of 2.91, 2.64 and 2.63, respectively for the CKGs of these three communities. In comparison to individual CKGs, relatively higher species diversity (3.18) was found in the Adi CRF. Increased sharing of traditional knowledge among the community members, regular incomes and equitable sharing of the tangible and intangible benefits of using plant species were identified as important success indicators of the CKGs and CRF. In addition to providing valuable insights on biocultural knowledge and enabling the participants to strengthen their existing local land use practices for conserving valued plant biodiversity, the study outcomes have the potential to inform and strengthen the policies on environmental sustainability.
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Acknowledgements
This study is dedicated to the Monpa, Adi and Nyishi communities. We are grateful to the community leaders, members and knowledge holders for providing the information. The taxonomic help in identifying plant species (including identifying new species from state Arunachal Pradesh) and understanding the basic ecological aspects obtained from Dr R C Srivastava, Botanical Survey of India, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh are gratefully acknowledged. College of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural University, Pasighat and National Innovation Foundation-India, Ahmedabad are acknowledged for their financial help. The logistical support obtained from ICAR-CSSRI, Karnal, Haryana, India for preparing this article is also acknowledged. The valuable comments of two anonymous reviewers are acknowledged that has improved quality of earlier version of this article.
Author Contributions
RKS conceived the idea. RKS, LK, OR, BT, YJL and EP mobilized the communities, condcuted the required activities and collected the data. RKS and AK analyzed the data. RKS and AMS wrote and revised the paper. HT helped in the checking taxonomic identification, categorizing status of plant species and followed further actions with local stakeholders. LK, OR, BT, YJL and EP assisted in re-collection of data with the required activities to validate the data and assisted in assessing long-term progress of works at local level in contact with RKS. VM contributed in methodological and discussion contents of study. All the authors read the final paper and made critical suggestions for improvement.
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The information on plants and related traditional knowledge was sought through prior informed consent orally. The key knowledge holders and representatives in consultation with community chiefs of the study villages consented for bringing this out in hard and or digital form of publication(s). This study was approved (No. CHF/CAU-DO-20/03) by the corresponding authors’ institute of affiliation.
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Singh, R.K., Singh, A., Ksherchokpa, L. et al. Grassroots Approaches for Sustaining Biocultural Diversity and Livelihood Security: Insights from Indian Eastern Himalaya. Environmental Management 68, 17–37 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01462-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01462-1