Doctorate on edible mushroom: Applying traditional knowledge of people belonging to Kaani tribe in the Western Ghats – Tamil Nadu

The traditional knowledge of people belonging to Kaani tribe in the Western Ghats of Kanyakumari district has helped a research student secure her doctorate. The Kaani tribe, who inhabit hills and deep jungles, are a veritable storehouse of traditional wisdom. Their traditional knowledge is passed orally through generations. Mushrooms form a prominent place in their … Read more

Ethnomedicinal plants to cure skin diseases, poison bites, wounds and rheumatism: Traditional knowledge of Kaani (Kani) community in the Tirunelveli hills (Kanyakumari) – Tamil Nadu

Costus speciosus (J. Koenig) Sm. (Costaceae) has long been considered an important medicinal plant in the Indian sub-continent and other countries of the world. The plant has been reported to have a wide array of ethnomedicinal uses [see Table 1: Ethnomedicinal uses]. Various parts of the plant including the rhizome are used by different tribal communities [e.g. … Read more

Mushroom culture and bio-diversity in the Western Ghats – Tamil Nadu and Kerala

People belonging to the kani tribe of the forests and hills of Kanyakumari district have wild mushrooms in their diet. They collect half-a-dozen species of mushrooms from the deep forests of the Western Ghats which has a rich repository of bio-diversity. Since the district receives rainfall from both the southwest and northeast monsoons, it aids … Read more

Sustainable use of biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge: Securing economic benefits for tribal communities – Kerala & Tamil Nadu

The book explores the possibility of sustainable use of biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge with economic benefit for the communities and countries that have conserved them for generations. By S. GOPIKRISHNA WARRIER THERE is an irony related to biodiversity and economics. Communities that live in close contact with biodiversity-rich forests are economically poor, whereas people … Read more

Sacred groves: Traditional practice and modern ecology

Sacred groves are maintained by many tribal communities across India like the Santals and tribal communities in the Nilgiri mountain range of Tamil Nadu, adjoining Wayanad District, and the Kaani community Kanyakumari region on both sides of the border between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Some of their ancestral forests, sacred streams and mountains are now … Read more