Ensuring sustainable livelihoods, equity and well-being – Forest Peoples Programme

Around 300 million people, made up of local communities and indigenous peoples, traditionally live in forests and primarily depend on them for their livelihoods

Customary lands of indigenous peoples and local communities encompass 65% of the world’s land area, and 80% of the global biodiversity

Protecting forests is often a deadly risk for indigenous peoples and local communities

In 2017, there were 207 documented murders of environmental defenders

Learn more on the website of the Forest Peoples Programme >>

“In his play Muktadhara (The Waterfall), Tagore robustly employs this element of freedom. The play relates the story of an exploited people and their eventual release from it. [Today, when] tribal populations across India are being uprooted with impudence Tagore’s message of freedom, in all its shades, is of utmost relevance.” – Bhaswati Ghosh in Freedom in Tagore’s Plays | Learn more >>

See also

Adverse inclusion | Casteism | Rural poverty

Childhood

Crafts and visual arts

Demographic Status of Scheduled Tribe Population of India (Census figures 2011)

Denotified Tribes, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes – Report and Recommendations (Technical Advisory Group)

Fact checking | Figures, census and other statistics

Human Rights Commission (posts) | www.nhrc.nic.in (Government of India)

Imprisonment & rehabilitation

Search tips | Names of tribal communities, regions and states of India

State wise population of Scheduled Tribes (ST) and their percentage to the total population in the respective states and to the total STs population

“What are the Rights of Scheduled Tribes? – Government of India (National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, NCST)

“What is the Forest Rights Act about?” – Campaign for Survival and Dignity

“Who are Scheduled Tribes?” – Government of India (National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, NCST)

You can’t keep quiet on everything. At some point, if you disagree – it’s better to say it then rather than piling it up. 

Former IAS Officer Kannan Gopinathan in a special lecture on “Democracy: Institutions and Individuals” (Asian College of Journalism – ACJ, 2 September 2020) | Democracy >>
Learn more

Atree.org | Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology & the Environment (posts)

Biodiversity | Biodiversity hotspot | Hyderabad biodiversity pledge

Climate change | Audio | The Climate Question (BBC Podcast)

eBook | Background guide for education

Ecology and environment | Eco tourism | Tourism | Wildlife tourism

Environmental history and what makes for a civilization – Romila Thapar

Equations blog (Equitable Tourism Options)

Forest Rights Act (FRA) | Hunter-gatherersIllegal miningLegal rights over forest land

Indigenous knowledge systems

Information provided by Indian government agencies and other organizations (FAQ)

Man animal conflict

Nature and wildlife | Crocodile | Elephant | Tiger | Mangrove forest | Trees

PARI’s tales from tiger territory | People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI)

Revival of traditions

Sacred grove

Shola Trust | Nilgiri Biosphere

Success story

Water and development – India’s tribal communities

Western Ghats – tribal heritage & ecology

Wildlife tourism

What is the Forest Rights Act about? 
Who is a forest dweller under this law, and who gets rights?

Watch “The Good Ancestor – The Legacies We Leave” (3 min.): An animation that explores the legacies we might leave for future generations >>

Links to some of the most important organisations, thinkers and doers that are leading the way and that have inspired the book The Good Ancestor by Roman Krznaric >>