Nagaland tribe resolves to protect pangolins

GUWAHATI

The apex body of Nagaland’s Sangtam community has passed a resolution to protect pangolins, the world’s most trafficked wild mammal, within its jurisdiction.

The initiative is deemed significant, as the Sangtams are concentrated in the Kiphire and Tuensang districts of Nagaland, bordering Myanmar. Most pangolins from the northeastern and other parts of India are trafficked along the 1,643-km India-Myanmar border.

According to conservationists, United Sangtam Likhum Pumji’s resolution is a major achievement under the ongoing Countering Pangolin Trafficking Project led by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). The Wildlife Conservation Network’s Pangolin Crisis Fund supports the project.

“The resolution reflects the growing strength of community-led conservation efforts and signals an expanding wave of grassroots support for pangolin protection across State boundaries,” a WTI spokesperson said.

In 2023, the WTI initiated a project in Manipur to counter the alarming illegal wildlife trade that was threatening the survival of the Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) and the Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla). The project was later expanded to Nagaland, particularly along the India-Myanmar border, identified as a critical landscape for the animal.

The Sangtam organisation’s resolution followed that of the Tangkhul Naga Awunga Long in Manipur. The Tangkhuls dominate Manipur’s Ukhrul district, bordering Myanmar.

The landscape inhabited by the Sangtams is characterised by dense forests, shifting cultivation areas, and biodiverse habitats that support numerous wildlife species, including pangolins. The region is part of the Indo-Myanmar Biodiversity Hotspot, making it both ecologically significant and vulnerable to wildlife exploitation.

The Sangtams have a strong traditional governance system led by village councils and apex tribal bodies. Community resolutions play a crucial role in regulating natural resource use and social practices.

L. Kipitong Sangtam, a community elder, underscored the role of indigenous institutions in conservation efforts. “Community institutions are the backbone of conservation in Nagaland. With collective support, the Pangolin Project is building trust and strengthening local leadership to ensure long-term protection of pangolins,” he said.

“The Sangtam community has shown remarkable leadership and openness in understanding the urgency of pangolin conservation. Their support is not only encouraging but crucial. When communities take ownership, conservation becomes sustainable and powerful,” Chingrisoror Rumthao, the WTI’s field officer, said.

Pangolins are trafficked for their scales and meat, which are in high demand across Asia and Africa for various traditional medicine and luxury industry uses.