Elephants & tigers: Recurring motifs and issues for India’s tribal communities

“The tribals I was told about are elephant people. As far back as any one can remember, they have taken care of elephants. They understand elephants as no one else …

Video | “The Siddis: A Forgotten People”: UN in Action – Gujarat

United Nations – Gujarat in western India is home to more than 20,000 Siddis [Sidhi], an ethnic group of African descent. But today, many live on the fringes of society in …

Tiger conservation and tourism – its impact on the people in and around the tiger reserves

The Supreme Court order [2012] to ban tourism in core tiger reserves, and decisions to shoot poachers at sight find favour with some conservationists, the middle class and media. But …

India’s tribal cultural heritage – Karnataka

Preserving tribal culture and maintaining control over their own affairs: Adi ‘Hill Men’ – Arunachal Pradesh

With political changes afoot in Burma, policy wonks and businessmen are taking a new look at India’s Northeast for economic and geopolitical calculations, but there’s a more colourful reason that …

The Shola Trust Gudalur – Tamil Nadu

NGO Profile – Sanctuary Asiamagazine February 2011: In Gudalar, at the edge of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, a small committed group of volunteers work to protect India’s shola forests – a mosaic of …

Indian forests, rivers and mountains owe their survival to Adivasis: “the most civilised people” – Mahasweta Devi

Renowned writer and social activist Mahasweta Devi termed Adivasis as “the most civilised people” to whom Indian forests, rivers and mountains owe their survival. She praised their egalitarian social structure …