Title Goes Here. Click to Edit and Add Your Own Text.
Though we have been documenting wildlife in the Dibang Valley since 2013, most of Dibang’s community-owned forests are still scientifically unstudied. This initiative brings outside scientists together with local people to co-produce socio-ecological knowledge. Joint teams run expeditions and install long-term assessments to create baseline information on the diversity, distribution, and abundance of mammals, herpetofauna, and avifauna. Landowners use modern technology for eco-cultural mapping of their ancestral forests. Scientific methods and knowledge are integrated equitably and ethically with traditional ecological knowledge, and the community owns all data and knowledge generated. Traditionally, Idu villages maintained exclusive control over their village forests. Wildlife was utilized by cultural norms, following cultural restrictions. Outsiders were not allowed to access or hunt in forests that were not theirs. However, with greater connectivity and links with illegal wildlife trade, commercial wildlife trade increasingly threatens Dibang’s biodiversity. Since its launch, the DibangTeam has worked alongside clans-people to conduct cameratrapping surveys in nearly 600 sq. km of rugged high-mountainous terrain, generating novel scientific information. Data and results are always given back to the original clans-people.
Community Led Research and Conservation
Though we have been documenting wildlife in the Dibang Valley since 2013, a large majority of Dibang’s community-owned forests are still scientifically unstudied. Many of these forests are now being earmarked for various state-run developmental and conservation projects. This initiative brings outside scientists together with local people to co-produce socio-ecological knowledge. Joint teams run expeditions and install long-term assessments to create baseline information on diversity, distribution and abundance of mammals, herpetofauna and avifauna. Landowners use modern technology for eco-cultural mapping of their ancestral forests. Scientific methods and knowledge are integrated equitably and ethically with traditional ecological knowledge, and all data and knowledge generated is owned by the community. Traditionally, Idu villages maintained exclusive control over their village forests. Wildlife was utilized in accordance with cultural norms, following cultural restrictions. Outsiders were not allowed to access or hunt in forests that were not theirs. However, with greater connectivity and links with illegal wildlife trade, commercial trade in wildlife is increasingly a threat to Dibang’s biodiversity. Since its launch, the Dibang Team has worked alongside clans-people to conduct camera trapping surveys in nearly 600 km2 of rugged high-mountainous terrain, generating novel scientific information. Data and results are always given back to the original clans-people. The Dibang Team works with local Gram Sabhas (constitutionally mandated village councils), village youth and elders to find ways such that the forest and wildlife are used in accordance with traditional principles. On 3rd June 2020, the original four clans of a community forest in the foothills of Dibang passed a resolution to declare their ancestral lands as a Community Conserved Area (CCA). Elopa Etugu Community Eco-Cultural Preserve (EECEP, 65 km2) is the first CCA in this region, owned and managed entirely by the local community. It is the first community conserved tropical grassland in South Asia and hosts several endangered species including the clouded leopard, hog deer, Asian elephant and Eastern hoolock gibbon. In August 2022, Gram Sabhas of several villages in another sub-basin within the Dibang Valley passed democratic resolutions banning outside hunting and commercial trade in wildlife.
Community Led
Research and Conservation
Our Process
Research Question & Interdisciplinary Method
Our research work is motivated by questions that are relevant to our community, our land, or the many lifeforms that we share in our land, lives, and destinies. For example, ‘What happens to the relationship between wildlife and Idu people after external disturbances’, ‘Why is the mithun dying in greater numbers than before’, ‘What are the spiritual origins of our villages’, ‘How are gibbons changing their behavior as their forests are being destroyed’ and so on. We ask ourselves, ‘Why is it important for us to ask this question?’ Once we are convinced that these questions are important, we then choose appropriate methods from Western natural and social science approaches. Importantly, we integrate the methods with Idu knowledge and traditions.
FPIC & Co- Development
We hold meetings with members of the villages whose lands the research will focus on. In these meetings, we present our research questions, their importance, methods, potential results, and their implications in a free, simple, and honest manner. We respond to any concerns raised by villagers, make any changes they suggest, and incorporate their views and priorities. The village council then issues an official letter inviting us to conduct the research collectively with them. The research is conducted in collaboration with and under the guidance of villagers elders and youth.
Data Ownership & Data Sharing
We believe that the information and data we gather belong to the land and the community. Therefore, the rights of all the data we gather vests with the community. Once our research is done and data analyzed, we hold Gram Sabha (constitutionally mandated village councils) meetings where all villagers are invited. We share data and results with the rights holders and answer questions. The Gram Sabha collectively decide if they want to make any changes in governance based on our findings.
Community Led Intervention
The Dibang Team works with rights holders to find ways such that the forest and wildlife are used by traditional principles. In June 2022, the villagers of Elopa and Etugu declared their ancestral land a Community Conserved Area to protect wildlife through cultural traditions and continue intergenerational knowledge transfer. In August 2022, the Gram Sabha of several villages in a sub-basin within the Dibang Valley passed resolutions banning outsider and commercial hunting on their land.
Our Latest
Gibbon Survey
The Idu Mishmi consider the hoolock gibbon human kin. It’s hunting is a strict taboo. While gibbons are hunted heavily across their range, families can be regularly seen and heard even within the limits of the biggest town in the Idu Mishmi territory owing to their cultural protection. However, threats are rapidly increasing with a push for mega hydropower dams, linear infrastructure like highways and power lines, and the conversion of lowland forests into agriculture. This project models a new way of doing locally-led, ethical, collaborative, and rights-based conservation for a species that is culturally significant for the Idu people.
Vegetation Survey
We are conducting a vegetation survey to understand our forest. Many species in EECEP are directly dependent on trees. The main is hoolock gibbon and there are several primate species, and also birds like hornbills, different types of pigeons, and barbets. We have information on the gibbon diet from oral history, and surveys with elders in our community, so we already know what gibbons like and prefer to eat. Now we want to see whether those preferred trees of gibbons and hornbills are present in our forest and that can sustain our healthy population. Therefore we are conducting a vegetation survey to understand the tree composition of our forests, how many trees we have, how many different species we have and what is the proportion of different species in EECEP. We have drawn a 15,500 m transect across forests and we are surveying over the year in the long term we also want to understand tree phenology and see how some of these trees respond to changes in climate and infrastructure development going on around EECEP. The idea is to know our forest better and to understand how they can sustain populations of tree-dependent species like gibbons, hornbills and other primates
Bird Transects
Mithun Survey
Mithun are highly prized, semi-domesticated animals for the Idu. It's important for major life events and festivals. In the past, people would take revenge by killing enemies’ Mithun. Predation by big cats is an issue, but there are other threats to the Mithun as well. The team wanted to know how many Mithun were dying, and what the causes were.
As Dibang Valley changes in terms of climate, infrastructure development, forest cover, and time, we wanted to understand how bird communities are responding to these changes. This is particularly important because Dibang Valley or the Mishmi Hills are a global bird diversity hotspot. so we are conducting four bird transects, twice a month in mid to high elevations over time to understand how birds are responding to these changes and how they are adapting to a changing environment both in terms of climate and infrastructure.
