The Apatani valley1 (or the Apatani plateau as it is also called), bifurcated by the river Kele, is located in Arunachal’s Lower Subansiri District (93°57’E to 94°12’E and 27°30’N to 27°40’N). The headquarters of the Lower Subansiri district are located in Ziro, one of the major townships of the Apatani valley.

Approximately 10 per cent of the forests in the Apatani valley are under government control, legally categorised as unclassed state forests (USF). The rest are under the control of family, clan or the community (village). These lands are managed according to traditional rules governing allocation, use and transfer.

The community inhabiting the Apatani valley in Arunachal Pradesh is somewhat unique in its traditional wisdom and practices. Furer Heimendorf in his earlier writings in the mid-1940s mentions seven Apatani villages. Recent articles put the number of villages in the valley at around twenty. The population continues to be confined to the central regions of the Apatani plateau around the old Ziro or Hapoli township, former headquarters of the district.

Inhabitants of this valley are named variously—Onka Miri, Ankas, Apa Tanang, etc.—collectively called as the Apatani (Apa means regard and Tani means human race). Apatanis, cohabit with other tribal groups called Nishis and Hill Miris; but unlike them, they live in nuclear families. They are divided into a number of clans and each clan lives in a clearly defined part of the village. They worship the sun (Donyi) and the moon (Polo) and there are several fascinating myths attached to their deities and their origin which serves to reinforce their uniqueness as compared to the neighbouring communities. Almost all their festivals are even today connected to nature conservation and community welfare.

In 1993, the Apatanis formed village forest protection committees, with the involvement of the youth. According to the community members the idea about forming this committee came after a realisation that outside influences and cultural factors such as diminishing effects of taboos and social restrictions following modern education were causing rampant destruction of forests.

Dapos originated as symbolic peace treaties during the settlement of the plateau. Surrounded (geographically) by hostile Nishi tribesmen, the Apatanis wanted to keep inter-village and inter-tribal disputes to a minimum and formal treaties of friendship between villages formed a fundamental part of their political system.4 In the likelihood of disputes arising over boundaries of forest lands (irrespective of ownership), three poles of (usually) bamboo about 3–4 feet long are erected in a vertical criss-cross manner to depict a dapo at negotiated boundaries of such areas.5 The dapo still has relevance today, with an added element of threat as resource crunches become more prevalent.