A book named Feathers and Leaves: Flora and Fauna was recently released by the forest department of Nagaland. As the name suggests, the book documents the myriad varieties of flora and fauna in a forest colony of Kohima, in an effort to bring the rich biodiversity before the public, to inspire and motivate them to contribute towards its conservation.
Speaking with Indian Masterminds, IFS Officer Dharmendra Prakash, who is the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) & Head of Forest Force (HOFF), Nagaland, shared details about the book, which he recently released.
NAGAR VAN SCHEME
The book is an initiative of the Kohima Forest Division under the Nagar Van scheme. Nagar Van, a scheme which has been sanctioned by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, envisages developing 400 Nagar Vans and 200 Nagar Vatikas in the country during the period of 2020-21 to 2024-25 with an objective to significantly enhance the tree outside forests and green cover, enhancement of biodiversity and ecological benefits to the urban and peri-urban areas apart from improving the quality of life of city dwellers.
Through this project, the forest department of Nagaland selected a site within the forest colony of Kohima, Nagaland. Once the development of the park was over, the DFO of Kohima Division, in consultation with the Chief Wildlife Warden, drafted a list of birds which are generally found in the forest colony area. So, as a result of this initiative, the book, Feathers and Leaves: Flora and Fauna, is the outcome. The concept is of DFO, Kohima, Rajkumar M, IFS.
THE BOOK
“Under the Nagar Van initiative, we decided to have some kind of documentation. So, this book was released. It is the result of great efforts by our field officers,” Mr. Prakash said.
People generally see the forest colony in Kohima as a residential area with offices around, while huge part of the area is covered by forest which serves as a haven for rich flora and fauna. The idea behind the book was to enable the people to contribute towards the conservation of bio-diversity after reading the book. In addition to this, the book would act as a guide for those who want to do bird watching in Kohima.
The pictures in the book were taken by senior IFS officer Vedpal Singh of the Nagaland Forest department, for over a period of 5-6 years.
“Now we have decided that we will have install signage or some kind of billboard developed in the form of collage in different places so that people get aware of the varieties of birds and trees in the area. This will help our conservation efforts,” Mr. Prakash said.
The book has pictures of birds along with their descriptions and food habits. Thirty birds and 14 trees have been documented.
BIODIVERSITY & FOREST AREAS IN NAGALAND
The whole state of Nagaland is rich in biodiversity. Nagaland comes under the Indo-Burma (Myanmar) biodiversity hotspots of the world. Though small in surface area, the geographical location with varied climatic condition ranging from tropical to temperate conditions have greatly influenced the rich floristic and faunal diversity in the state.
Mr. Prakash shared that in Nagaland, the land holding pattern is very peculiar. Unlike in other states, most of the forests are with the community and private people, and the ownership is vested with them. The government as such have control over only 5% of the forest area and 95% of the forest area is with communities and are private.
“As a result, conservation has been a big issue because these areas are not under the jurisdiction of the government. It has taken sustained awareness programme over a period of 15-20 years to reach this level,” he said.
Pleased that different species of birds and trees are found in the forest colony of Kohima, he has now encouraged the team to continue its documentation on the flora and fauna of the state and create more awareness among the public. “We hope that this book will increase the love towards nature among its readers,” he said.
