The Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary (KNCTS) was created in December 1998 by the Angami villagers of Khonoma, and has been entirely managed by the community since then.
Earlier, Khonoma was infamous for being a hunting village but the establishment of the sanctuary created a ban on hunting in Khonoma after a 20 sq km region.
The sanctuary was created in 1998, when alarmed after 300 endangered Blyth's Tragopan (Tragopan blythii) were killed by the villagers in one week as part of a hunting competition.
“At the time, conservation was a foreign idea to us. As a community, we hadn’t needed to ‘conserve’, we simply lived with nature as we always had for generations,” says Tsilie Sakhrie. The 77-year-old community member who had previously been a social worker until the late 90s initiated the establishment of the sanctuary when he became part of the village council in 1995.
Additionally, the notification of a sanctuary was to encourage the Angami to move away from their traditional hunting practices, especially to protect the Blyth’s Tragopan or Grey-bellied Tragopan Tragopan blythii, categorised as ‘Vulnerable’ by the IUCN Red List.
Ecological studies of the region were quick to note the immense biodiversity of the area – 72 species of mammals were recorded, including the tiger, leopard, serow, binturong, Asiatic black bear, otter, jungle cat, barking deer and Himalayan striped squirrel. As of now, around 200 species of birds have been recorded too, including the Mountain Bamboo Partridge, Crested Finchbill, Assam Laughingthrush, Striped Laughingthrush, Spot-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Flavescent Bulbul and Naga Wren-babbler – many of which have a very limited range, often nothing more than small, fragmented parts of Southeast Asia, with declining populations.
Green Cochoa found in the sanctuary
Khonoma Nature Conservation & Tragopan Sanctuary (KNCTS) has also won the prestigious India Biodiversity Awards 2021 under the category “Sustainable Use of Biological Resources.”
Though deforestation and poaching was a major threat for nature and wildlife in Nagaland; however Khonoma may be considered one of the safest place for wild birds and mammals. Community conservation played a major role in protecting the biodiversity of the area.
A MINI DRAMA
CITATIONS:
https://www.sanctuarynaturefoundation.org/article/khonoma-and-the-angami
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khonoma_Nature_Conservation_and_Tragopan_Sanctuary
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