Host: The Association of Japanese Geographers
Arunachal Pradesh is located near Bhutan and Tibet and is the home for 22-24 ethnic groups (51 groups if segmentalized). This study reports the vegetation and the traditional forest managements in the Derang Dzoneg area.
1. The fallen leaves of oak trees are important for agriculture for the reason that they are used as manure in cultivated lands.
2. The fallen leaves are used for the nutrient for barley (below 1970m in altitude) and buckwheat (1790-2000m in altitude) as well as for suppression of weeds.
3. Depending on accessibility from settlements and conditions of utilizations, the forests in the Derang Dzong area are classified into the following three categories:
1) "Soeba Shing" (the forest for collecting the fallen leaves);
2) "Borong" ("Untouched forest": the forest for collecting the firewood); and,
3) "Moon" ("Deep forest": the forest for getting the building materials and the hunting area)
Management methods differ among these three types of forests. In particular, "Soeba Shing" near settlements are kept artificially as pure oak forests through tight controls based on traditional practices.
4. The fallen leaves of oak trees are important property for people, and are not exchanged basically among them, hence, every farmer owns "Soeba Shing".
5. "Moon", in line with the times, change to the secondary forests, "Borong", consisting of many pine trees (Lensong Shing: Pinus wallichiana) through logging along with increased accessibility from settlements.
6. While lands of "Soeba Shing" are privately owned, and those of "Borong" and "Moon" are possessed by clans. The utilizations of forests are, hence, done only by individual owners in "Soeba Shing", and by members of clans with ownerships in "Borong" and "Moon".
