Green Heroes: Saving the bird in hand

In many traditional tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, when a man comes of age, he must hunt in the wild and bring back something to be accepted as an 'adult'. At the risk of being ostracised by staunch traditionalists, Jibi Pulu works at the grassroot level in a community where hunting has been the way of life for centuries, steadily educating and helping it embrace conservation, one step at a time.

Growing up in the Mishmi hills of the Dibang valley in east Arunachal, it was a strange twist of fate that got him started on the path to safeguarding the environment. In Erin Brockovich style, Jibi Pulu investigated documents on proposed dams that contained a deeper truth that people didn't understand but had agreed to sign.

He started a drive to educate people on the adverse effects of dams on the Dibang river, but corruption and lack of awareness drowned all his efforts. This failure was a sort of turning point in Pulu's life, who realised that creating consciousness was the growing need of the hour.

He used tourism as a tool to do that, and created the Mishmi Hills camp, a place for birders and nature enthusiasts to come and experience the amazing biodiversity the place has to offer. In the process, he also generated employment for local Mishmi men and women, who are beginning to understand the importance of preservation in relation to economics.The Mishmi wren babbler is only found here in the entire world, and avid birders travel all the way to spot it.

Asked about what his ultimate dream for the area is, he adjusts his clear glasses and smiles. His entire dream stemmed from wanting to preserve his ancestral land, and creating a community forest where everyone takes the onus of preserving it. "The context of hunting has changed, as the credibility of it is lost today. The realisation that the youth was blindly following traditions and not hunting to fill their stomachs, is where the change has started to happen," he says.