Traditional environmental management of the khasis of meghalaya: a case study of the marpna protected forest

The state of the environment has direct impacts on human lives and development. In fact, environmental conditions has never remained static, it changes in time and space. Further, the unprecedented growth of human population, unsustainable economic development, the absence of an efficient environmental management model and the lack of political will has resulted in an alarming rate of environmental degradation. An efficient environmental management mechanism involving all stakeholders is, thus, the foremost and mandatory requirement in environmental conservation and management. One of the features of the environmental governance structure in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya is the existence and the indispensable role of traditional institutions at the local level, besides the state machineries. This paper will attempt to examine traditionalthe environmental management practices and the efforts undertaken in the Marpna protected forest in Meghalaya.