IDU MISHMIS AND DIBANG WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended.

Context

• The announcement by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) chief that theDibang Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh would soon be notified as a tiger reserve has caused disquiet among the area’s Idu Mishmi people, who feel that a tiger reserve would “hinder their access” to the forest.

Who are the Idu Mishmis?

• The Idu Mishmi is a sub-tribe of the larger Mishmi group (the other two Mishmi groups are Digaru and Miju) in Arunachal Pradesh and neighbouring Tibet.
• They are of mongoloid stock and speak the Tibeto-Burman language.

Location

• Known for their weaving and craftsmanship skills, the Idu Mishmis primarily live in Mishmi Hills, bordering Tibet.
• Their ancestral homelands are spread over the districts of Dibang Valley and Lower Dibang Valley as well as parts of Upper Siang and Lohit.

Population

• The tribe is estimated to comprise around 12,000 people (as per census 2011), and their language (also called Idu Mishmi) is considered endangered by UNESCO.

Society, Religion and Culture

• All pervading goddess Nani-Intaya is the sole creator of the universe for the Idus.
• Nani-Intaya and Masello Zino are worshipped as creators of mankind and universe as a whole.
• The major festivals of the Idus are ‘Reh’ and ‘Ke-meh-ha’.
• Reh festival is held during the month of February. It is an occasion for people to relax, enjoy, dance, eat and drink.
• The Idu-Mishmi society is patriarchal and patrilineal.

Migration

• Apparently the Idu-Mishmis migrated towards the south to present habitat from Tibet through Dibang and Lohit Valleys.

Connection with the forest

• Traditionally animists, the tribe has strong ties with the region’s rich flora and fauna.
• Animals such as the hoolock gibbons and tigers have deep cultural relations with the Idu Mishmi.
  • Tigers are especially important to the Idu Mishmis — according to Idu mythology, they were born to the same mother, and thus, tigers are their “elder brothers”.
• Idu Mishmis also follow a strict belief system of myths and taboos — ‘iyu-ena’ — that restrict them from hunting many animals, including a complete prohibition on killing tigers.
• This belief system has led to a unique model of wildlife conservation.

Present controversy

• While the Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary — a biodiversity hotspot home to rare Mishmi takin, musk deer, goral as well as clouded leopards, snow leopards and tigers — was notified in 1998, plans to declare it as a tiger reserve have been afoot for a while now.
• In April 2022, at the 20th NTCA meeting, members accorded final approval to declare the wildlife sanctuary as a tiger reserve.
• As Dibang Valley became a site by wildlife biologists to map the tiger habitat and count tigers, the recommendations from these visits have led to a proposal suggesting a reconstitution of the existing Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary as the Dibang Tiger Reserve.
• The tribe has been vociferously opposing any move to convert the wildlife sanctuary into a tiger reserve, fearing that the move will “cut off access to their lands”.
• An upgrade to a tiger reserve would feature stricter security measures like a ‘Special Tiger Protection Force’, which would be guarding the area at all times.
• Members of the community claim that Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary was created without people’s consent or knowledge.

Community Conserved Area

• More recently, the community has declared part of its forest land as a ‘Community Conserved Area’, or a CCA.
• It is a model governed entirely by local populations, where villagers are demarcate a part of their ancestral land as a “biocultural conserved area”, where they ban hunting, felling trees, and implement other conservation measures

About Dibang WLS

• The Dibang wildlife sanctuary lies nestled in the Arunachal Pradesh.
• It is one of the eight wildlife sanctuaries, located in north east of Anini, in Arunachal Pradesh which occupies part of the Eastern Himalayas.
• Dibang valley district has been named after the Dibang River, a tributary of Brahmaputra River.
• Adjacent to the Mouling National Park, it was established in 1980s.
• Later in 1988, as per the guidelines of UNESCO, together these areas became part of Dibang Biosphere Reserve, one of the major bio-diversity hotspots of the world.

Flora

• It consists of vegetation of moist temperate and alpine type.
• The two main categories of vegetation are temperate broad leaved forest and temperate conifer forest (Rhododendra, Bamboo, Gregaria, Tsuga etc).

Fauna

• Snow leopards thrive in proximity to high altitudes whereas clouded leopards are found in lower latitudinal zones.
• Other carnivores include marbled cat, jungle cat, tiger, panther etc. Among herbivores-musk deer, Mishmi takin, red panda, serow, blue sheep, red goral.
• Other species of fauna are Gongshan muntjac, Asiatic black bear, Mishmi hills flying giant squirrel, otter, sloth bear and macaque.
• This Eastern Himalayan Ecosystem is home to a variety of frog species, almost 45 species of moths, butterflies and many other insects.
• Amongst snakes, Cobra (King and Nala variety), Krait, Indian Rock Python and viper are commonly found.

About Dibang River

• Dibang River, also known as Sikang by the Adi and Talo in Idu, is an upstream tributary river of the Brahmaputra in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
• It originates and flows through the Mishmi Hills in the (Upper) Dibang Valley and Lower Dibang Valley districts.
• The Sisar, Mathun, Tangon, Dri, Ithun and Emra are the major tributaries of the Dibang.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-politics/indigenous-idu-mishmis-protesting-tiger-reserve-8540568/