Ecology & environment

“In Central India, individual plant species figure in the first fruit ceremonies of the adivasi (indigenous) communities. During certain periods of the year, their fruits, flowers, leaves or seeds are not collected or consumed. This allows those species to rest for a few weeks or months during crucial periods for their growth or regeneration. The norms around these practices or methods are often embedded within the cultural-religious traditions of communities. As a knowledge system being transferred between generations, seldom are they explained or discussed in terms of ecology or conservation.” – Madhu Ramnath in “How culture threatens species A note on Caryota urens in South India” (Current Conservation 16.3, accessed 4 December 2022)
https://www.currentconservation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/16.3.pdf
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=20305

Living in a symbiotic relationship with other communities: The Shompen, one of India’s particularly vulnerable tribal groups – Nicobar Islands

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Shiv Sahay Singh, The Hindu, Kolkata: November 01, 2015 | To read the full article, click here >> The Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) has come up with the first authentic demographic database of the Shompen tribe — one of the least known particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The study … Read more

Arctic peoples treat a seemingly hostile environment with respect: Members of a “Fourth World” that unites indigenous minorities across North America and Eurasia

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The Arctic, or circumpolar, peoples are the indigenous inhabitants of the northernmost regions of the world. For the most part, they live beyond the climatic limits of agriculture, drawing a subsistence from hunting, trapping, and fishing or from pastoralism. Thus climatic gradients, rather than simple latitude, determine the effective boundaries of the circumpolar region, and … Read more

eBook | Lessons from the Kattunayakan and Soliga tribal communities: Recent studies on better forest fire management – Tamil Nadu & Karnataka

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Notes from the Other Side of a Forest Fire by Tarsh Thekaekara, Abi Tamim Vanak, Ankila J Hiremath, Nitin D Rai, Jayashree Ratnam, Raman Sukumar in Economic & Political Weekly, June 24, 2017Source: Courtesy Tarsh Thekaekara by email (18 July 2017) | To read the full text, click the download link Notes from the other side of a … Read more

Pioneering community services for tribal communities in the Nilgiris: Adivasi Munnetra Sangam – Tamil Nadu

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Excerpts from explanations in the illustrated calendar 2017 distributed by the Adivasi Munnetra Sangam (AMS) in Gudalur FRA Forest Rights Act Our forests are ours again. In 2006, the government finally accepted the historical injustice meted out to Adivasis and passed the Forest Rights Act thus recognizing our rights to forests. AMS is working hard to ensure that this … Read more

Sharing a theology with ecology as the most important ethical guide for humans: The Asurs, a “Particularly vulnerable tribal group” – Jharkhand

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G.N. Devy, The Indian Express, 6 March 2016 | To read the full article, click here >> The term tribal defies any universal definition. Between the Maoris of New Zealand, the Aborigines of Australia and the Indigenous People of North America, there is a shared historical fact. They were all there before the colonial powers pushed them … Read more