JAIPUR: Raikas, the community of herders, have sought the application of Forest Rights Act and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD) in ensuring grazing rights to their animals in the forest land. The monsoon season is a testing time for these livestock keepers who graze large herds of sheep and goats-- as well as a diminishing number of camels—as crops are sown in the farm lands and the animals can find food only in the forest.
Raikas refer to the Article 8j of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, to which India is a partner, to support their demand. It commits countries to “ …subject to national legislation, respect, preserve and maintain knowledge innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.”
Hundreds of Raikas-- men in their trademark multi-coloured turbans and the women folk in their traditional attires-- took to streets of Sadri, a small town in Rajasthan's Pali district the other day to press for the demand. The immediate cause for their anguish was the Forest Department's decision to impose a levy of Rs.11 per day for each sheep. The amount is unaffordable by the Raikas and even if they pay up, the authorities do not issue a proper receipt.
“It is not the payment for grazing that matters,” points out Dr. Ilse Köhler-Rollefson of the LIFE Network, which promotes community-based conservation and development of indigenous breeds. “They want their grazing rights under the Forest Rights Act and CBD re-instated,” she observes.
Last year, with the help of the NGOs, Raikas developed a Biocultural Protocol in which they establish themselves as a local community whose lifestyle protects biological diversity. In the protocol, they document how they do it: by preventing forest fires, guarding wildlife, and by keeping locally evolved livestock breeds. This document, and the underlying approach, generated much attention nationally and internationally.
Within the country, several other communities --such as the Maldhari in Kutch and a group of Lingayats living in the Bargur forest in Tamil Nadu-- followed suit. Internationally the Raika have shared their protocol with the leaders of African indigenous communities during a meeting in Nairobi and with a working group of the Convention on Biological Diversity held in Montreal last year.
The Raika struggle for grazing rights has a long history. In the year 2003 they took their case to the Supreme Court though matter remained unsettled. With the passage of the Forest Rights Bill in 2007-- which provides rights not only to forest dwellers, but also to seasonal forest users-- the situation changed. But the initial jubilation turned to dismay as the herders found that there was no clear procedure for claiming the rights.
“Raikas are known to be peace-loving people whose main concern is to make sure that their livestock has enough to eat. In fact they are the keepers of the genes and they take upon themselves the duty of taking care of camels,” notes Dr. Kohler-Rollefson who helped the community to get organised under an NGO Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan (LPPS). Both LIFE Network and LPPS helped Raikas to find their voice and link themselves with herders in the rest of the world.
Dailibai Raika, a traditional animal healer, explains that in Germany the local shepherds are paid by the government for conserving the environment. She and Hanwant Singh Rathore, the director of LPPS, visited Germany earlier this year and interacted with parliamentarians.
Both are scheduled to attend the next meeting of the CBD in Japan. A preparatory meeting of Indian and international herders will be held in Kuttupalayam near Coimbatore from August 13 this year.
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