Commercial varieties of trees in tribal forest areas must not replace plants on which the Adivasis are dependent

“I would urge you not to treat the issue of human rights in isolation and pay equal attention to nursing Mother Nature which is deeply wounded by the indiscretions of human beings.” – Droupadi Murmu | Speeches by the 15th President of India >>

Indu Netam, an Adivasi leader from Chhattisgarh, on Monday, slammed the plantation of eucalyptus and other commercial varieties of trees in tribal forest areas under Green India Mission (GIM), saying this was impacting their livelihoods.

Addressing the media here on Monday, she said in the name of protecting the environment, fruit-bearing trees, medicinal and other plants on which the Adivasis were dependent for ages have been replaced by plants that were not useful to them. She also complained that the Forest Rights Act was only on paper and not being implemented.

Lands being taken away

Souparna Lahiri of the All India Forum of Forest Movement alleged that under the Green India Mission, undertaken in line with the Prime Minister’s climate action plan, lands of forest communities were being taken away. In Chhattisgarh [Chhattisgarh], jatropha was being planted under GIM. He said the forest department was being given the right to govern forests through the backdoor by launching joint forest management initiatives.

He claimed that the forest cover in 113 tribal areas was more than 33 per cent, against the national average of 21 per cent. […]

Meanwhile, several NGOs and Indigenous People’s Organisations (IPOs) from across the globe, in an open letter to the international donor community, have expressed concern about the way funds meant for forest conservation, restoration and poverty eradication were being misdirected towards REDD+ projects (Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and to enhance forest carbon stocks).

Source: “Green initiative detrimental to livelihood of tribal people” The Hindu, HYDERABAD, 9 October 2012
Address : http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/green-initiative-detrimental-to-livelihood-of-tribal-people/article3979799.ece
Date Visited: Sat Nov 03 2012 16:01:40 GMT+0100 (CET)

Up-to-date reports by Indian experts and journalists

Search tips

Combine the name of any particular state, language or region with that of any tribal (Adivasi) community.

Add keywords of special interest (health, nutrition endangered language, illegal mining, sacred grove); learn about the rights of Scheduled Tribes such as the “Forest Rights Act” (FRA); and the United Nations “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, “women’s rights”, or “children’s right to education”.

Specify any other issue or news item you want to learn more about (biodiversity, bonded labour and human trafficking, climate change, ecology, economic development, ethnobotany, ethnomedicine, global warming, Himalayan tribe, hunter-gatherers in a particular region or state, prevention of rural poverty, water access).

For official figures include “scheduled tribe ST” along with a union state or region: e.g. “Chhattisgarh ST community”, “Scheduled tribe Tamil Nadu census”, “ST Kerala census”, “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group Jharkhand”, “PVTG Rajasthan”, “Adivasi ST Kerala”, “Adibasi ST West Bengal” etc.

In case the Google Custom Search window is not displayed here try the following: (1) toggle between “Reader” and regular viewing; (2) in your browser’s Security settings select “Enable JavaScript” | More tips >>

List of websites covered by this Google custom search engine

Academia.edu (platform for academics to share research papers) – www.academia.edu

Archive.org – https://archive.org

Centre for Science and Environment – https://www.cseindia.org

Current Conservation – https://www.currentconservation.org 

Development and Cooperation (D+C) https://www.dandc.eu

Down To Earth (India) – www.downtoearth.org.in

India Environment Portal – www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in

Harnessing Nature Magazine – https://harnessingnature.online

Mongabay-India – https://india.mongabay.com

M S Swaminathan Research Foundation – www.mssrf.org

Navdanya (protecting India’s biodiversity based food heritage) – https://navdanya.org

Third World Network (Penang, Malaysia) – https://twn.my

The Shola Trust (nature conservation in the Nilgiri region) – www.thesholatrust.org

Research the above issues with the help of Shodhganga: A reservoir of theses from universities all over India, made available under Open Access >>

Note: hyperlinks and quotes are meant for fact-checking and information purposes only | Disclaimer >>

For how long will I have to
Bear the pain of development
Or is it that I will be done to death
Before attaining development?

Quote from a poem by Ram Dayal Munda titled “The Pain of Development (Vikas Ka Dard)”
https://joharjournal.org/ram-dayal-munda/

Economy and development | Globalization | Rights of Indigenous Peoples >>