Wildlife Conservation Perspective of Fringe Villagers …
297
4.2 Socio-economy
The findings of the study revealed that majority of the fringe villagers of the Borail
Wildlife Sanctuary were Christians, followed by Hindus and Muslims. Furthermore,
scheduled tribes (ST) were predominant over other castes, such as tea tribes, scheduled caste (SC), general and other backward caste (OBC). The proportion of minor
females was significantly lower than that of minor males in the population which
is a cause for serious concern as there have been fears of intrauterine fetal death
adopted by several local communities in some parts of India. From the fringe villages of Ranga, Kakoi and Dulung reserve forests of Lakhimpur district, Assam,
similar findings were reported where the population of males was higher than the
female population and the villagers belonged to Hindu religion followed by Christians and Muslims. Majority of the population were of OBC category followed by
SC and ST (Bhuyan 2015).
Furthermore, huts (or kutcha houses) were predominantly higher than the permanent dwellings (or pucca houses) among the fringe villagers of Borail Wildlife
Sanctuary. The fringe villagers also depended on the forest resources for meeting
their daily requirements primarily as source of firewood which they utilized as fuel.
Local people’s knowledge about natural resources conservation are influenced
by education and awareness programmes, services and benefits local people receive
from conservation related projects. Education of fringe villagers of Borail Wildlife
Sanctuary was mostly below the secondary level, as evident from the present
study. This indicates that there is an urgent need to enhance education and take up
awareness programmes, and strengthen law enforcement for improving the overall
sanctuary-community relationship. Existing education and awareness programmes,
if improved, are likely to have a positive impact on local people’s knowledge about
natural resources conservation as education and awareness are important tools in
motivating people to develop or reinforce positive perceptions about biodiversity
conservation. The findings from our study suggested that conservation in the Borail
Wildlife Sanctuary heavily relied on local communities due to their perceived benefits from the sanctuary. Nielsen (2003) noted that if the risk perceived by local
community is too high in relation to the potential benefits of violating protected
areas regulations, then compliance is likely to be enhanced.
In the present study, the local communities largely used the Sanctuary for cultivation of beetle vine (pan jhum) which was their major occupation. This is a type
of shifting cultivation and is an important form of primitive agricultural land use.
In this system forest area is cleared by slash and burn techniques. There are various
effects of shifting cultivation with large scale deforestation leading to undesirable
ecological imbalance. Since the hill tops particularly the catchment areas are the
source of water, deforestation in the hills often lead to elimination of the sources of
water which increases the run-off due to consequent inability of the soil to retain
the water. The clearance of forest causes deforestation which accelerates soil erosion and accentuates the variability in rainfall distribution. Burning of such land
can be considered as one of the worst impact on climate because it creates scope
297
4.2 Socio-economy
The findings of the study revealed that majority of the fringe villagers of the Borail
Wildlife Sanctuary were Christians, followed by Hindus and Muslims. Furthermore,
scheduled tribes (ST) were predominant over other castes, such as tea tribes, scheduled caste (SC), general and other backward caste (OBC). The proportion of minor
females was significantly lower than that of minor males in the population which
is a cause for serious concern as there have been fears of intrauterine fetal death
adopted by several local communities in some parts of India. From the fringe villages of Ranga, Kakoi and Dulung reserve forests of Lakhimpur district, Assam,
similar findings were reported where the population of males was higher than the
female population and the villagers belonged to Hindu religion followed by Christians and Muslims. Majority of the population were of OBC category followed by
SC and ST (Bhuyan 2015).
Furthermore, huts (or kutcha houses) were predominantly higher than the permanent dwellings (or pucca houses) among the fringe villagers of Borail Wildlife
Sanctuary. The fringe villagers also depended on the forest resources for meeting
their daily requirements primarily as source of firewood which they utilized as fuel.
Local people’s knowledge about natural resources conservation are influenced
by education and awareness programmes, services and benefits local people receive
from conservation related projects. Education of fringe villagers of Borail Wildlife
Sanctuary was mostly below the secondary level, as evident from the present
study. This indicates that there is an urgent need to enhance education and take up
awareness programmes, and strengthen law enforcement for improving the overall
sanctuary-community relationship. Existing education and awareness programmes,
if improved, are likely to have a positive impact on local people’s knowledge about
natural resources conservation as education and awareness are important tools in
motivating people to develop or reinforce positive perceptions about biodiversity
conservation. The findings from our study suggested that conservation in the Borail
Wildlife Sanctuary heavily relied on local communities due to their perceived benefits from the sanctuary. Nielsen (2003) noted that if the risk perceived by local
community is too high in relation to the potential benefits of violating protected
areas regulations, then compliance is likely to be enhanced.
In the present study, the local communities largely used the Sanctuary for cultivation of beetle vine (pan jhum) which was their major occupation. This is a type
of shifting cultivation and is an important form of primitive agricultural land use.
In this system forest area is cleared by slash and burn techniques. There are various
effects of shifting cultivation with large scale deforestation leading to undesirable
ecological imbalance. Since the hill tops particularly the catchment areas are the
source of water, deforestation in the hills often lead to elimination of the sources of
water which increases the run-off due to consequent inability of the soil to retain
the water. The clearance of forest causes deforestation which accelerates soil erosion and accentuates the variability in rainfall distribution. Burning of such land
can be considered as one of the worst impact on climate because it creates scope