The grazing land for his cattle and sheep in the lower areas, he said, was diminishing.

The seasonal migration of the semi-nomads of Merak, commonly known as Brokpas in the east, have come in conflict with the residents of Khaling over grazing rights in the periphery of Khaling and Brekha. The conflict, according to the residents of Brekha and Khaling, started as the number of Brokpas and their livestock population entering their forests increased every winter. Apart from posing a threat to their crops, cattle grazing had caused eco-nomic and environment related prob-lems in the area.

“Cattle holding and family frag-mentation have increased the number of Brokpas in the region competing for the little grazing land available and endangering forest resource and water sources in the catchment ar-eas,” the Khaling chimi told kuensel. “Each family owns about a hun-dred heads of cattle and sheep,” he added. “And the number continues to rise.”

According to the chimi, an agree-ment signed between the Brokpas and the resident of Khaling in 1979 allowed 18 households from Merak to graze their livestock on the Tsamdo or grazing land in Khaling. But, over the years, not only the number of cattle and sheep but the population of Brokpas had increased. Some Brokpas stayed in the Khaling/ Brekha area throughout the year. “Without any compliance to the genja (agreement), about 40 percent of the Brokpa cattle and sheep stay back even during summer posing extra burden to the private grasslands,” the chimi said.

The recent establishment of a community forest has added to the problem. The Joenshamlamdoksa Community Forest in Khaling was once the grazing area for the Brokpas and the local community. But the lo-cal community surrendered their grazing rights opting for a commu-nity forest. The restriction had pres-sured the Brokpas to look for alter-natives.

According to ranger Dorji Dukpa the Joenshamlamdoksa area had to be protected because a flash flood there in 2000 was mainly caused by exces-sive grazing in the catchments.

“The conflict between the Brokpas and the local community was there from the inception of the forestry rules,” said the divisional forest officer in Trashigang, Kin Gyeltshen.

Many areas in the east are over-grazed causing various environmen-tal threats. Khaling, Phongmey, Shongphu and Radhi are the worst affected by over-grazing.

“The interest of both Brokpas and the local community have to be re-spected and it is very difficult to dis-courage the Brokpas from practising this age-old tradition,” Kin Gyeltshen said.

Moreover, the Khaling-Kharungla area involved three dungkhags which further compli-cated the issue.

According to a study carried out by a forest official, apart from cut-ting vast stretches of bamboos Brokpas are involved in both lopping (a method of cutting branches for fodder) and griddling (felling trees to let grasses grow) of trees. Although the latter has been stopped com-pletely lopping is still widely practiced.

An average Brokpa family owns about 40 to 50 heads of cattle and sheep which, according to forest of-ficials, are beyond the carrying ca-pacity of the grazing lands.

According to the 1986 Animal Husbandry Pasture draft, a single cow needs about two hectares of grazing land for a duration of one year. But in Kharungla alone, there are about 8,000 cattle in the 7000- hectare forest.

“Because of the conflict between the local community and the Brokpas, social forestry components in the Kharungla forest management unit could not be carried out,” said the DFO. A similar conflict pre-vented the establishment of the Brekha community forest.

“If not protected, these areas would face the same problem which Chopheling and Mindula in the north faced,” warned the DFO.

Chopheling and Mindula were the two worst areas affected by land-slides and forest degradation in the north of Trashigang.

But the Brokpas with very little knowledge of environment are not deterred.

“Our migration is a way of our life, we have been practicing this for generations,” said Lobzang Pema. He added that the Brokpas do not have any alternative for livelihood.

Rinchen Dorji, a student from Merak, said that no Brokpa would ever renounce the age-old practice. “Even if the government provides us with alternatives, our people will never abandon the tradition,” he said.

Daji, who owns about 150 heads of cattle, is confident that His Maj-esty’s kasho which allows them to graze their livestock in the tsamdos, will let them continue their practice forever.

However, efforts are underway to make the Brokpas understand the pressure they exert on the environ-ment. Forest officials have sug-gested rotation grazing, while some areas have been identified for pas-ture management.

“Improvement of pasture and limitation of cattle heads are some good measures but it is difficult to convince the Brokpas,” the DFO said. He added that direct applica-tion of government rule always cre-ated conflict in the Brokpa family.

Unlike the Layaps in the west who descend in the lower valleys to barter their goods with food grains, the Brokpas had been bringing their cattle and sheep to the warmer south for years. Escaping from the harsh weather and driven by economic ne-cessity, they stay in these areas from the onset of winter till March or April.

By Ugyen Penjore