Women, IKS and Sustainable Development: A Perspective on the Apatani Tribal Women of Ziro Valley, (Arunachal Pradesh)

Abstract

Sustainable development, the predominant paradigm of the United Nations, formulated and described by the 1987 Bruntland Commission Report as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising future generations to meet their own needs.” The concept of Sustainable development has become the focus of all planning and policies across the nations and is appearing to be the plausible remedy to a large extent to mitigate the emerging and continuing threat of Climate change Hunger and economic crisis across the world. The dimensions in the concept of sustainable development are intertwined with the future in which environmental, societal and economic considerations are balanced in the pursuit of an improved quality of life. However, Sustainable Development needs the participation of the society at large along with their knowledge as a principal guiding factor and active involvement between individual and communities and other stake holders. In this context the tribal people of India in general and that of Northeast in particular exhibit an intricate relationship with a two-way interaction of optimum utilization of the available resources on one hand and that of balanced conservation of the resources on the other. These practices of the tribes are in existence for centuries and has its foundation in the indigenous knowledge system inherited and practiced for generations. Among eight North eastern States, Arunachal Pradesh stands out as unique for its rich and variegated culture of as many as 26 major and many minor tribal groups inhabiting the speckled topography practicing their exclusive system of self-sustenance. In this process however the tribal women, play a significant role as they like are mostly responsible to manage fuel fodder and food to keep the family hearth burning along with working in the field as well as maintain the household chores. The Apatanis of Ziro valley are one such example which stands out for the role played by the women in sustainable resource management and efficient economic development by practicing a system of agriculture and forest conservation based on their traditional knowledge system. The present study is an attempt in understanding the role of women in the sustenance of environment by taking the example of Apatani women whose IKS has today drawn attention from within and across the world and Ziro has been declared as world heritage site.