Updates on the Convention on Biodiversity: Conservation to be “connected to livelihood” – Hyderabad biodiversity pledge

Goa villages to document biodiversity PANAJI: Goa has become the second State after Kerala to constitute Biodiversity Management Committees in most of its village panchayats, according to Pradip V. Sarmokadam, Member Secretary, Goa State Biodiversity Board.The move is aimed at forming People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) in villages, which as many as 75 villages are already … Read more

An education programme for children from 62 tribal groups: Enabling “Bhasa Sikshak” language teachers to combine children’s mother tongue with Odia and English – Odisha

Source: Bhasa Sikshaks who teach tribal children in Odisha innovatively by Natasha Badhwar, The Hindu (Magazine), 23 April 2016Address: https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/natasha-badhwar-on-bhasa-sikshaks-who-teach-tribal-children-in-odisha-innovatively/article8508587.eceDate Visited: 9 August 2020 To be taught in a language other than one’s own has a negative effect on learning. [Starting a child’s education in the mother tongue] allows teachers and students to interact naturally and … Read more

Ancestral land of Soliga tribe restored: “Government realizes that tribal peoples are the best conservationists” – Karnataka

Survival on 2 November 2011 (the organization working for tribal peoples’ rights worldwide) Indian tribe secures unprecedented rights to tiger reserve In a landmark victory, a tribe in India has for the first time had their right to use their ancestral land recognized – even though it is inside a tiger reserve. In 1974 members of the Soliga … Read more

Hunta dance of the Santals of the Chotanagpur region – Jharkhand

The Hunting Dance of the Santhals who live in the hilly plateaus of the Chota Nagpur region of the Santhal Parganas of Jharkhand is known as the Hunta Dance. This powerful dance requires a lot of strength and vigour and is performed only by men. The dance depicts the act of preparing for the hunt … Read more

Irula snake-catchers providing venom for producing antivenom – Tamil Nadu

India has one of the highest rates of death from snakebite in the world. There are four species of snakes (of the nearly 300 different species in India) primarily responsible for deaths. The “Big Four” are the cobra (we have four species), krait (we have eight species), saw-scaled viper (two subspecies) and Russell’s viper. All … Read more