The Fading Idea of Sacred Forests and Sustainability in Northeast India

Northeast India has been known for its huge forest covers and traditional ways of livelihood from as long as one can remember. States like Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram has records of forest-covered lands of more than eighty percent. This is mainly due to the practice of nature-worship that is prevalent among several tribes of the region. However, in the new era of hyper-developmentalism, such tremendous reports of green cover can be equated with the rarest of gems. Even in famous media and advertisements, the region is showcased in a way of being in harmony with nature unlike many rapidly developing concrete hubs of mainland India. However, there has been a steady decline in the green bliss of Northeast India over the last three decades. In these decades, there has been clashes of the local people and the central government over several policies that has staggered the daily lives of the people of the region. Scholars from several corners have put forward their own unique assumptions regarding the degrading environmental status of the region. This paper will attempt to investigate into all these factors briefly. Yet, the focus of the paper will be to take a dive into the environmental history of Northeast India and investigate the cultural practices of many Northeastern tribes regarding forests and several such elements of nature as sacred. This sacrality will be attempted to be equated with sustainable development and how this has declined over the years. The paper will also venture into the larger issues at hand and how it has influenced and affected the Northeastern region over the years.