Biodiversity

“While collecting tubers, we take only what we need and we will cover the rest with mud again. Usually the main root is not taken because we need it for next year.”– Wildlife conservationist Ramesh in “Bomman thatha and his forest”, a conversation with his grandfather on “bonding between adivasi people and the forest” (At the Edge of Existence, 29 October 2014)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=8262

Countering the destruction of Wayanad’s well-balanced ecology: Establishing home gardens in tribal hamlets – Kerala

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Wayanad is quite rich in species that are important for food security, which, over the years, have fallen into disuse due to a multitude of reasons. Wayanad is also well-known for a high degree of endemism and species richness of the flora which is also at great stress. The landscape of Wayanad is an interspersing … Read more

Reviving native ecology as to restore the wealth of the people: Cultural continuity for the twenty-first century – Kerala

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Places like Kerala where there were numerous sacred groves and related culture, are ecologically disturbed now due to ill conceived developments chartered out by those who did not have any knowledge or concern about nature/ecology. Modernists could not understand the natural significance of the numerous rituals and myths. The tribal communities had their own thoughts … Read more

Audio | Author interview on the usefulness of indigenous knowledge: “Medicine Wheel for the Planet: A journey toward personal and ecological healing”

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An Indigenous ecologist on why we need to stop and listen to save the planet Earth day is April 22. And Earth is not in great shape to celebrate the day. Overheated, overpopulated, overexploited – we’re not being particularly careful with our planet. We talk to Indigenous ecologist Jennifer Grenz, of the University of British … Read more

The “participatory guarantee system” (PGS Organic Council): A renewed effort to sustain the lives and cultures of indigenous communities – Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve

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Rich Forests: Making a living under the canopy […] PGS has been received enthusiastically in India and elsewhere. The PGS Organic Council was registered in Goa, India, in April 2011. Since then, the Government of India – under the national project on organic farming – has officially launched the participatory guarantee system (PGS India) for organic produce. In India … Read more

Resources for the classroom: Learning from and about India’s tribal communities, their culture and knowledge systems

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“[I]t is some of the basic values and ideology imbibed in the traditional tribal socio-cultural milieus that should have been emulated and promoted amongst the non-tribal mainstream, not, as has been going on, the other way round.” – Arup Maharatna (Professor, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune), in Who Is Civilised?’: In Praise of Tribal … Read more