| Consultant |
Mr. Ibobi Singh
Conservator of Forests
Research and Training Circle
Mantripukhri
Imphal
Manipur
India |
| Location of Case Study Sites (2) |
(a) Makhana (near Imphal) |
| |
(b) Riha (near Imphal) |
Project
Two sites have been taken up. They include:
(a) Makhan Village
Makhan is situated about 20 km from Imphal. There are 100 households.
Forest area in which to operate has been demarcated. Some area is
available for sedentary agriculture. There is a village development
authority. The chairman’s post is an elected post but the village
chiefship is heritable. 50 HH have 1 acre each for permanent
cultivation. 20 HH entirely depend on Jhum. 30 partly depend on Jhum.
Fallow period is 5-6 years 1 plot is used for 2 years
(b) Riha Village
Riha is a Tangkhal Naga village located 30 km from Imphal on Ukhrul road
in Ukhrul district. This is district council area having a Village
Development Authority. The community owns the land. A VFMC has been
formed in 2001. Village chief is the chairman. The chief's position is
heritable. In this village there are 16 clans, 132 households and the
total population is 700. Forest area is around 1000 ha. Executive
Committee is an elected body of 9 members including 2 women.
Forest areas have been allocated for different purposes, Jhum, fuelwood
collection, timber extraction etc. Jhum is no longer a profitable
proposition but continued under compulsion, in the absence of any other
option. Earlier the cycle was 15-20 years, now it is reduced to less
than 10 years. This is a major problem apart from fire and grazing. The
JFMC is not active.
|
