Eco-development of rani reserve forest

Abstract

We create monuments in parks, we build cairns in the forest, and we leave shrines on the waterfront, as humanized imprints/ associations, on/ with nature. The need for humans to connect to nature, as refuge from everyday life, is fulfilled by green space in all its varied site types and forms, creating ample opportunities. The landscape which we experience possesses a large diversity of components, as well as a whole plurality of views. The geographic reality is nourished by its representation, images and meanings. While India is often referred to as the land of spirituality, religion and nature worship; the flora and fauna in both urban and rural areas seem to be on a constant decline. The notion of craving for respite and opportunity for mindfulness increases as the cities grow and our lives get busier. A nearby space as sacred and pristine as nature offers such breather and charges us up for upcoming endeavors. In a similar context, the Rani Reserve Forest, in the outskirts of Guwahati City, sharing a boundary with the Garbhanga Forest of Meghalaya towards East, overlooking the wetland Deepor Beel (a Ramsar Site) towards North and several rural settlements on the other peripheries is undergoing constant pressure. The pressure is adding up due to the City’s massive sprawl, the patterns of resource use along the fringe and in the core of the forest, unmanaged visitation etc. leading to illegal encroachment, exploitation of natural resources, human-animal conflicts, lack of social awareness, mismanagement by concerned government agencies and several other threats. Moreover, increased religious tourism on the Sacred Site of Dakini Hill has given rise to anthropomorphized landscapes that are modified in a banal way, monotonous, and without feeling or reason, which undermines aforesaid landscape‘s sacred meaning. This landscape has been evolving, basically in an unplanned way, through a sequence of implementation of individual activities, losing its character and health. It has also been declared that this reserve forest is a disturbed secondary forest where the management authorities have to deal more and more with rather than with primary forests, so that these are effectively able to meet the multi-purpose needs of the communities. As long as forest management organizations carry out activities that change vegetation, new landscape patterns will be created. The loopholes in such management activities affect resources (especially biological resources) or human interactions. There is also the possibility that the developing landscape pattern jeopardizes faunal species dependent on certain habitat characteristics. Eco-Development of Rani Reserve Forest, Kamrup-East Forest Division, Assam 2 In a nutshell, the direct as well as indirect implications of human actions, the kinds and intensities of disturbances, the senses of place created/ disrupted around geographical scales and around cultural ideas either to ‗protect‘, ‗control‘ and ‗exploit‘ nature are to be addressed sensitively. Hence, this thesis tries to document and analyze the natural and human forces acting on the forest, design interventions and manage the larger landscape in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into nature to facilitate more visitation and appropriate resource use with less ecosystem degradation.