CONFLICTS IN BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION: THE ISSUE OF TRADITIONAL TRIBAL FISHERIES IN PERIYAR TIGER RESERVE, KERALA

Funding Agency: Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development, Centre For Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.

The uniqueness of Periyar Tiger Reserve is that it has a 26 sq.km man made lake (Periyar Lake) and 74 Km long Periyar stream. The unique aquatic ecosystem abounds with rich and diverse fish fauna. Of the 27 fish species reported in Periyar Tiger Reserve, about 14 are highly endemic to Western Ghats. Again 14 species are highly threatened. Besides the endemic and threatened fishes, there are also exotic species. Since these exotic species are very agile and competitive, it has the potential to over take the native population if not controlled. The main stakeholder of fish resources in Periyar Tiger Reserve is the two indigenous groups such as Mannans and Paliyans. Mannans, traditionally considered as tribal fishermen were given exclusive fishing rights by the Forest Department. The basic issue here is that, the tribal fisherman fish selectively both exotic and some of the highly endangered, threatened as well as endemic fish species. The project was essentially designed to study the link between Biodiversity conservation and local community development in Periyar Tiger Reserve. It also evaluated the dependency of indigenous communities on fishery resource of the lake in relation to their income sources.

Primary observations were made to understand the breeding seasons and length- weight relations of threatened/endangered species. Fish catch estimations and size and maturity stage observations to analyse sustainability of fishes were also done. Participatory appraisal techniques, structured interview schedules, and secondary data sources were relied on for understanding the socio-economic profile of tribal communities. Besides these, monitoring of daily activities of 30 selected households for detailed livelihood analysis was also attempted. The study has helped to understand the breeding seasons of different fishes and the length-weight relations of threatened/endangered species. The daily employment pattern for the two communities together revealed that, fishing accounts maximum days, which comes to about 50% of the employed days. The casual labour and non - timber forest products collection accounted for 11-17% and the rest of the time is mostly used for working in their own land. The fishing methods employed by the Paliyans are hooks and line where as Mannans use common vessel traps for fishing.