Interview with Research Assistant John Paulraj at CIES
You were recently in India doing fieldwork as part of the ‘Accounting for Nature’ research project. Can you tell us about the work you’ve been doing there ?
My recent fieldwork across three Northeastern (NE) states of India – Nagaland, Manipur, and Sikkim – explored ongoing scientific studies and policy discussions around the potential of developing forests as carbon sinks in the region. I also examined changes in patterns of land use (especially around forests and agricultural lands) within the context of changing climatic parameters and increased instances of environmental degradation.
Unpacking these issues required a close examination of the circulation of international/national forest conservation discourses within complex sociopolitical systems observed in the region, as well as an in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of local population. Questions emerging from secondary research led me to undertake formal interviews and informal discussions with individuals from different spheres of life and at different administrative levels. This included officials at the central Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change as well as multilateral organisations at the national level; government officers and NGOs implementing environment and conservation programmes at the state level; and local communities who were directly/indirectly engaged in deciding how they imagine using their natural assets. Our conversations broadly revolved around environmental markers indicating changes in climatic patterns, transitions in traditional systems of land holding and use, conservation practices undertaken by the state and local communities, forest management and new mechanisms for valuation of natural resources and planned infrastructural development in the region.
Widening of National Highway 29 in Nagaland for better regional connectivity has transformed land use systems in agricultural lands and forests - Sechü Zubza, Nagaland. (Photo by John Paulraj)
Why is this area a focus of your research/ for the project?
India is one of the three cases taken up for the Accounting for Nature research project along with Canada and Argentina. And for my specific project, the NE of India presents a good case to pursue my research given that the region has a forest coverage (about 64.66 percent of the total geographical area) that is higher than the national average, and more importantly the centrality of forests in shaping the cultural and economic lives of local communities. Over the years, the abundance of rich and biodiverse landscapes has engendered conservation projects alongside presenting opportunities for re-imagining its use along the global discourse of climate change. For instance, with valuation of forests as a resource for sequestration of carbon, there is growing interest operationalising this resource through REDD+ and other National Afforestation Programmes. This is seen in scientific studies and projects piloted by scientists, government officials, private actors, and bilateral organisations across different states in the region where living woody biomass of certain trees are identified, valued, and studied for its ability to retain carbon. Furthermore, recent government policies have been made to streamline existing forests governance institutions within such new ideas. Thus, for an anthropologist like myself who is from the region and has worked in different capacities, all these factors present an interesting case for exploration, especially in a politically sensitive region that would serve as an important economic corridor to Southeast Asia in the near future.
Locals in Inriangluang-Raenggan (a community-conserved forest) in Tamenglong, Manipur explain their cultural responsibilities in preserving forests and the role of nature in regulating their social lives. (Photo by Keiguangpou Israel Panmei)
What are you expecting to do with your findings?
At this stage of my research, the preliminary findings will help me frame the contours of my PhD research project. Secondly, and more importantly, I plan to initiate a conversation with various stakeholders engaged on these issues, as well as academics working in the region on the evolving constructions and role of forestlands in societies defined by an agrarian economy.
Is the work you are doing also related to your PhD research? Can you tell us more about it?
Yes. Very much. My project aims to explore sociopolitical and cultural changes emerging from the operationalisation of mitigation policies which promote certain discourses of valuing the environment. In this case, emphasis on the economic and scientific importance of forests and its constituent entities with respect to carbon forestry. Preliminary work in the three NE states indicate mixed feelings and apprehensions surrounding the ownership of private lands and community-owned forests, while at the same time, local population are looking for new ways (other than agriculture) to obtain the most benefits out of their land. During my long-term ethnographic fieldwork next year, I plan to explore these frictions, tensions, and societal encounters with new ideas of land-use emerging from global climate mitigation discourse.
