Tip | Enjoy a virtual journey across India: Interactive map
Traverse over 5000 km of India with the help of the present map
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
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
Tip | Understanding India’s legislation known as Forest Rights Act and its relevance for tribal communities
The FRA was enacted in 2006 with the aim of protecting the claims of tribal communities over tracts of land or forests they have inhabited and cultivated for generations. It has the potential to democratise forest governance by recognising community forest resource rights over an estimated 85.6 million acres, thereby empowering over 200 million forest … Read more
“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
eBook | Disseminating environment related information to improve peoples’ livelihoods: Initiative by Kalpavriksh to collectively manage a web based clearing house – Maharashtra
“India’s geographic location at the confluence of three major biogeographic zones – i.e. the Indo-Malayan, the Eurasian and the Afro-Tropical – makes it extremely biodiverse in its genes, species and ecosystems. It is one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries (Mittermeier et al. 1997). India can boast of over 8.1% of the world’s biodiversity supported … Read more