Celebrating the United Nation’s International Mountain Day with the Kaani community at Vellambi (Western Ghats) – Tamil Nadu

International Mountain Day was celebrated at the Vellambi Tribal Settlement, Keeriparai in the Western Ghats on December 11 by the Tribal Foundation. Addressing the indigeous Kaani people, environmental educator, S S Davidson said International Mountain Day is an opportunity to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints … Read more

Adivasi mahouts who never beat their elephant: In search of workable solutions for dealing with rogue elephants – Tamil Nadu

Mari Marcel Thekaekara, New Internationalist, November 5, 2013 | Read the full blog here >> […] Living as we do on the edge of the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, we hear many elephant stories, not all pretty. Our much-maligned forest department gets a lot of flack from animal rights activists for catching and taming rogue elephants. All of us … Read more

Traditional honey harvesting by the Kattunayakan in the Nilgiri mountains – Tamil Nadu

Text and photo credits: Accord team, Tarsh and Tariq Thekaekara, Gudalur,  July 24, 2013  | Read the full blog here >> Listening to K. Chandran’s story, we ended up with muddled emotions. The story is about his grandfather and his love for honey. It is about the ancient beliefs of honey harvesting still followed by him … Read more

Our trip to the Adivasi festival in Ranchi: School blog about an excursion from the Nilgiri mountains of Tamil Nadu to Jharkhand in central India

This week, our blog is coming to you from the students of Class 9. […] In order, you can see (back row left-right) Tariq (one of our supervisors), Srudilaya, Prasad, Mridul, Priya (one of our teachers), then (front row left-right) Nibuna, Badichi, Vijimol (one of our supervisors) and Nandini. Those of us in Class 9 … Read more

Bee festival and media workshop hosted by Accord – Gudalur (Tamil Nadu)

The Jennu Habba – Honey Festival and exhibition drew about 400 visitors. The Vidyodaya schoolchildren enjoyed intensive sessions with the elders of Kattunayakan tribe: It is the honey season and bee hives in the forest are bursting with sweetness. Over generations our people, the Kattunayakans have mastered the skills required to take honey from the … Read more