The roots of community-led conservation in this Bihar town

By Rahul Singh

Bhagalpur, Bihar: On the morning of September 13, 2025, schoolteacher Gyan Chandra Gyani rushed to Naugachhia railway station with two colleagues, Vashishtha Kumar Singh and Chandan Kumar, and about 20-25 local youths. A Pakad tree (Ficus virens) was being pruned to make space for a government programme.

To most passersby, it was just a tree getting a trim. But to Gyani's group, it was a crisis: the tree held hundreds of Little Cormorant (Microcarbo niger) nests, and the pruning would destroy them. They pushed back against the security personnel deployed there. Later, Singh wrote a formal letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw about the incident. The minister's office has not responded.

In this corner of eastern Bihar, this tension between development and environment has become the new status quo.

See Also: Rahul Gandhi Flags Great Nicobar Connectivity Project As ‘Destruction Dressed As Development’ During Island Visit

Rich history

The town’s name, Naugachhia, carries its own history. In rural Bihar, trees are still called gachh, and Naugachhia was once thick with them. It still is, in places. The region lies between the Ganga and Kosi rivers, its landscape broken up by wetlands, and what grows and moves through it is quietly remarkable: hundreds of bird species, including the rare Greater Adjutant and all six resident stork species found in India, share this territory with the Gangetic dolphin, the country's national aquatic animal. The 60-kilometre stretch of the Ganga between Sultanganj and Kahalgaon is India's only officially notified dolphin sanctuary. Kadamba (Neolamarckia cadamba), Banyan (Ficus benghalensis), and Arjun (Terminalia arjuna) trees grow in large numbers across the area. According to eBird, 312 bird species were recorded in Bhagalpur district in the past year alone.

The region is also home to wild cats, jungle hares, jackals, porcupines, and wild boars. Gyani noted these animals are frequently killed in night-time road accidents. The team has identified crossing points where warning boards are needed, but bureaucratic progress has been slower than their success at the railway station.

Conservation is not without friction, however. Some of these animals, particularly nilgai and wild boars, have become a source of anxiety for farmers, who report crop damage in nearby areas such as Bihpur. 

The group behind the effort

Gyani and his colleagues work under the Ganga Prahari Nature Conservation Society (GPNCS), which operates with support from the Wildlife Institute of India. As part of the Namami Gange Mission, members work as "Ganga Praharis" — river guardians — focused on protecting birds, their natural habitats, and preventing hunting. The team is about a dozen strong. They distribute saplings, plant trees in public places, schools and private spaces, and run awareness programmes in schools explaining the importance of birds like storks and the broader web of biodiversity.

Women are part of this work too. Lalita Singh, a resident of Naugachhia village, has been active as a Ganga Prahari since 2020–21. Her work involves mobilising women in the area for conservation awareness programmes and training sessions which run alongside tree-planting and anti-hunting efforts. "We mobilise women for conservation efforts, and about 10 women are actively involved," she said. The change, she adds, is visible even to outsiders: "When my relatives come to our house, they are surprised to see the diversity and number of birds here."

The reasoning Gyani's team works with is precise. The Eurasian Coot, locally called Gulinda, feeds primarily on crabs. If crabs are overharvested, the bird loses its food source, reproduction declines, and numbers fall. The Asian Openbill feeds on snails found in rivers like the Kosi, Ganga, and Gandak. A decline in snail populations directly hits this bird's numbers. The chain is fragile, and fishing pressure is a significant part of it.

See Also: NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he will ask King Charles III to “return the Koh-i-Noor diamond” if he meets him

The Jalaj Project

This is where the Jalaj project enters. Working in Naugachhia, it trains river-dependent communities, especially fisherfolk, in alternative livelihoods, so that smaller streams beyond the Ganga and Kosi retain enough fish to feed the birds and prevent their migration. Chandan Kumar, who works as a Regional Field Assistant on the project, explains it plainly: "The theme of this project is to reduce people's dependence on rivers for their livelihood." He points out that overfishing, or catching fish and crabs during the breeding season, damages the ecosystem in ways that are hard to reverse.

Under the project, bamboo craft work began five years ago, producing both decorative and everyday items. People are also trained in making jute products and operating small food processing units. These items are decorated with Bhagalpur's famous Manjusha art, adding to their value and appeal. To promote these products, the team regularly sets up stalls at river ghats, also encouraging people to use organic products instead of chemical-based soaps and goods.

According to government claims, more than 5,000 river-dependent community members across 42 districts in nine states have been empowered under the Jalaj scheme, and 2,400 women have received support.

Jyoti Devi, 39, from Pratapnagar village, Kadwa Diara panchayat in Naugachhia block, received training under the project about two and a half years ago, in soap-making, tailoring, and Manjusha art through the forest department. She knows how to make turmeric, neem, tulsi, gram flour, and black clay soaps, which she prepares on order and supplies to Jalaj project stalls. Around 20 women were trained alongside her, she says, though only about a quarter remain active. The training has been useful, she says, but what's missing is more reliable market linkages and regular orders. "If we get that," she said, "we will benefit much more." Santosh Kumar, from the same village, echoed this. He too has been trained in soap production under the project, but says he needs support at two levels: capital, and market connectivity. "Without these," he said, "this business cannot become sustainable."

Santosh Kumar runs a coaching center and engages in farming for his livelihood.

Bird expert Arvind Mishra, a renowned ornithologist and Governing Council member of BNHS, said that while the Jalaj project raises awareness and may benefit tourism, many protected areas, such as the Greater Adjutant's breeding site at Kadwa Diara, require minimal tourist movement to avoid disturbing natural habitats.

A slow process

Despite growing awareness, the problem of bird hunting has not disappeared. Gyani noted that "Baheliya" bird hunters who once set up tents and sold birds openly are no longer visible in the area, but the trade has shifted rather than stopped. Rather than direct confrontation, the team gathers information from local sources and alerts the police and forest department for action. "If hunters are driven away from one area, they often move 25 kilometres away to continue hunting," Mishra said. He also points to a gap in enforcement: while sellers of birds are penalised, buyers often go unpunished. A coordinated state-level policy, he argues, alongside continuous dialogue and seminars, is what conservation in this region actually needs.

Government's response

Bhagalpur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ashutosh Raj told 101Reporters that Naugachhia is well-known for its biodiversity and birdlife, with 75 species recorded in the Asian Waterbird Census. Efforts are underway to get the Ghatora wetland near Bihpur–Sonbarsa recognised as a Ramsar site, with a baseline biodiversity survey completed and coordination with the district administration ongoing. Jagatpur lake has been identified as an OECM (Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measure). Two wetlands in the Naugachhia subdivision, Mohanpur Asia, connected to the Kosi river and owned by the Bihar government, and Jairampur Nankar, connected to the Ganga river are among 19 high-priority wetlands identified nationally, a report on Mohanpur Asia will be sent to the State Wetland Committee.

At the community level, Biodiversity Management Committees have been formed at the block level across all blocks in the district under the State Biodiversity Board, with bank accounts opened. The DFO has also expressed interest in collaborating with the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary to open a souvenir shop where products made by the community can be sold. 

Long way ahead

The tree at Naugachhia station was saved that September morning, at least for the moment. Gyani's team continued: planting trees, running school programmes, patrolling for hunters, and trying to ensure that the birds which have returned to Naugachhia have reason to stay.

As Lalita Singh puts it, the proof is in what visitors notice. Her relatives, arriving from elsewhere, are surprised by the birds. That surprise is itself a kind of progress.

This story is supported by the Promise of Commons Fellowship, focusing on the significance of Commons and its community stewardship.

This article was originally published in 101 Reporters under Creative Common license. Read the original article.

(GP)

Suggested Reading: