“The Kattunayakans, for example, a traditional hunter-gatherer tribe, would never plant a cash crop like bananas, since ‘elephants would eat it, of course’. They think it’s perfectly natural for elephants to come through their land and eat whatever they find. But for many of the newer immigrants into the region this is completely unacceptable, and they think elephants are a huge problem. Such nuances are frequently lost on biologists, conservationists and the media.” – Tarsh Thekaekara (Director, Shola Trust) in “Can elephants and humans live together?” (The Guardian, 6 March 2017)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/06/can-elephants-and-humans-live-together
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=22634
ASHOKA, ELEPHANT BOY, Age 17Excerpts from Mother India’s Children by Edward Rice Sometimes India reminds me of the ocean. It looks like one great undifferentiated mass of people, like so many identical waves. To the tourists who jump from Calcutta to the Taj Mahal in Agra and then to Bombay, it is. All Indians look … Read more
The adivasi women of Edamalakudi, Kerala’s remotest panchayat, have formed a headload workers’ group, helped light up their villages with solar power, and practice group farming in wild elephant territory. All are Muthavan tribals. Almost all are members of Kerala’s extraordinary anti-poverty and gender justice movement – Kudumbashree. They are also neighbours of Chinnathambi, the … Read more
“The world is a living tapestry … As the weave of life is torn apart in one place, the threads unravel in another,” says author and physics professor Vandana Singh, acknowledging humanity’s interconnectedness with the planet — and the uncertain future we face if we don’t protect it. Reading an excerpt from her latest work … Read more
State governments would have to undertake mass evictions if the court accepts a petition filed by wildlife groups. […] If the court accepts the plea of petitioners, state governments would have to undertake mass evictions. The union ministry for tribal affairs estimates that by the end of November 2018, out of the 4.2 million claims received, … Read more