Kikheto Sema with others during Consultation workshop on Draft Nagaland State Policy on Community Conserved Areas on October 8 in Kohima
Kohima, October 9 (MExN): A one-day Stakeholder Consultation Workshop on the Draft Nagaland Community Conserved Areas (CCA) Policy was organised on October 8 at Hotel Japfu, Kohima, bringing together representatives from the various stakeholder departments of the Government of Nagaland, representatives from community & organisations associated with conservation in Nagaland to deliberate on the proposed policy framework for Community Conserved Areas in Nagaland.
Delivering inaugural address as Special Guest for the Inaugural Session, Y. Kikheto Sema, IAS, Principal Secretary, DEFCC & Chairman, NSBB stressed on need for having a structured policy for sustaining the community initiative for conservation in the State of Nagaland.
He directed those involved in the deliberations to keep the community interests in the heart of the policy paper advocating appropriate resources to be mobilised to sustain the initiatives.
Addressing the delegates as the Guest of Honor, Vedpal Singh, IFS, PCCF & HoFF, Nagaland called upon the Stakeholders to ensure technical orientation of Community Conservation initiatives in terms of profiling of the resources and their management.
He also suggested to refine the draft policy document to make it more practical for the government to facilitate recognition of CCAs and their management.
Supongnukshi Ao, IFS, APCCF (T) delivered the Key Note Address during the inaugural programme which was chaired by Sidramappa M. Chalkapure, Chief Conservator of Forests and Member Secretary, Nagaland State Biodiversity Board.
The need for a policy framework for Community Conserved Areas in Nagaland has long been felt and has been discussed at different forums.
The process was further advanced following a workshop organised by ICIMOD in Kohima in 2024.
Taking this forward, FES, in association with NSBB, facilitated a process of deliberations towards developing a CCA Policy for Nagaland. As part of this process, four zonal-level and one landscape-level consultation meetings were organised to gather perspectives, opinions and recommendations from communities and other stakeholders.
The current Draft Policy has been developed based on these consultations and multiple rounds of stakeholder engagement, while also drawing upon recommendations and learning from earlier draft policy processes undertaken in 2016 and 2023.
The Draft Policy provides recommendations on criteria for recognition of CCAs, governance and management, monitoring, financial and technical support, coordination between neighbouring CCAs and landscape-level conservation, among other areas.
The Draft Policy further proposes inclusive CCA governance involving Village Councils, CCA Management Committees, women, youth, elders, landowners and other village institutions. It also provides for mechanisms for formal recognition and registration, community-led monitoring, landscape coordination and financial and technical support.
The technical sessions were moderated by Sanjay Sharma, GM, FES, Sunpreet Kaur, Programme Lead, TNCC, Dr Pia Sethi, Consultant, FES, and Chenibemo Odyuo, Sr Project Manager, FES.
The consultation was coordinated by Nagaland State Biodiversity Board (NSBB) in partnership with Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) and Nagaland Community Conserved Areas Forum (NCCAF). International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and The Nature Conservancy Centre (TNCC) were also involved in drafting and deliberating about the State Policy on CCAs.
