“Tribal communities have proven that they are the best guardians of the forest and die-hard conservationists”: Illegal mining destroys the life and culture of the conservators of forests

Source: “Odisha’s Tribal Communities Are Reeling Under a Land Grab Project Masquerading as ‘Afforestation’” by Abhijit Mohanty (The Wire, 23 July 2020)URL: https://thewire.in/rights/odisha-kandhamal-forest-rights-tribalsDate Visited: 26 February 2022 Illegal mining in forests is destroying the life and culture of schedule tribes, opined Dr H Sudarshan, director of Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra. He was speaking at national … Read more

Legal rights over forest land: Tribals no longer “encroachers” or “illegal occupants” – Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006

As a New Year gift, the UPA Government notified the long-stalled Forest Rights Act, which gives tribals legal rights over forest land. The notification of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, (popularly Forest Rights Act) is expected to benefit 10 million forest dwellers across 17 states. The … Read more

India is home to three of the world “biodiversity hotspots”: The Hyderabad biodiversity pledge in perspective

Source: “Red marks in India’s green report card” by Tarsh Thekaekara, The Hindu, October 17, 2012 The Hindu : OpinionAddress : https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/red-marks-in-indias-green-report-card/article4003291.eceDate Visited: 3 January 2022

Tribes are the conservators of forests – National seminar on International Day of World’s Indigenous People in Mysore

Deccan Herald, Sunday 8 April 2012 – Mysore Illegal mining in forests is destroying the life and culture of schedule tribes, opined Dr H Sudarshan, director of Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra. He was speaking at national seminar on ‘Tribes and Analogous People in India: Contemporary Issues’ on the occasion ofInternational Day of World’s Indigenous People. The seminar … Read more

An environment minister’s call for a change in the colonial outlook: “Forests, tribal forest dwellers and life forms living in forests complement one another and are not rivals”

Forests, tribals and wildlife are not rivals, says [former] environment minister Anil Madhav Dave addressing senior-level forest officers at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun The meeting of state forest secretaries to develop mitigation measures for faster green clearances for projects in wildlife habitats, which began today, saw the environment minister Anil Madhav Dave … Read more