
See also
Adverse inclusion | Casteism | Rural poverty
Anganwadi | Community facilities | Ekalavya
Demographic Status of Scheduled Tribe Population of India (Census figures 2011)
Fact checking | Figures, census and other statistics
Human Rights Commission (posts) | www.nhrc.nic.in (Government of India)
Search tips | Names of tribal communities, regions and states of India
“The world sells humans. What kind of world is this?” – Hindi Movie “Kamla” revisited
“What is the Forest Rights Act about?” – Campaign for Survival and Dignity
“Who are Scheduled Tribes?” – Government of India (National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, NCST)

Learn more about the Soliga community in Karnataka >>
“We have a special responsibility to document, monitor and conserve our most precious asset” – Kamaljit S. Bawa in “Our biodiversity, our life, our future” >>
Facts and figures: India’s biological, cultural and geographic diversity
Spread over 3,287,240 km2 and despite a total human population of over 1,210,000,000, India represents a wide spectrum of biological, cultural and geographic diversity. It has been identified as one of the top 12 global biodiversity hotspots and has 91 eco-cultural zones inhabited by 4,635 ethnic communities. India also has amongst the largest indigenous/tribal population, constituting 8.08% of the country’s population, representing 461 tribes. The term ‘Indigenous Peoples’ is not officially recognized in the country, instead the Constitution of India uses the term ‘Scheduled Tribes’. The total forest cover is estimated to be approximately 20% of the total area of the country. About 1,70,379 villages with a population of 10,674,334 inhabit areas in close proximity of forests.
Source: RECOGNITION AND SUPPORT OF ICCAs IN INDIA by Neema Pathak Broome and Tushar Dash, p. 4 | PDF-Repository
URL: https://kalpavriksh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IndiaICCARecognition_Final_SEPT2012-as-published.pdf
Date Visited: 10 March 2025
Learn more about tribal communities, biodiversity and wildlife related issues across Karnataka and the Western Ghats
(e.g. search for “Karnataka Adivasi Abhivrudhi Mandali”, “Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve”, “man animal conflict Karnataka”, “Karnataka tribal welfare”, “Valmiki Scheduled Tribes”, “forest based tribal communities”, “Soliga development, “Jenuba Juruba rights”, “BR Hills”)
Up-to-date reports by Indian experts and journalists
Search tips
Combine the name of any particular state, language or region with that of any tribal (Adivasi) community.
Add keywords of special interest (music, poetry, dance just as health, sacred grove and biodiversity); learn about the rights of Scheduled Tribes such as the “Forest Rights Act” (FRA); and the United Nations “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, “women’s rights”, or “children’s right to education”.
Ask a question that includes “tribal” or “Adivasi”, for instance: “Adivasi way of life better?” (or “tribal way of life worse?”)
Specify any particular issue or news item (biodiversity, bonded labour and human trafficking, climate change, ecology, economic development, ethnobotany, ethnomedicine, global warming, hunter-gatherers in a particular region or state, prevention of rural poverty, water access).
For official figures include “scheduled tribe ST” along with a union state or region: e.g. “Chhattisgarh ST community”, “Himalayan tribe”, “Scheduled tribe Tamil Nadu census”, “ST Kerala census”, “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group Jharkhand”, “PVTG Rajasthan”, “Adivasi ST Kerala”, “Adibasi ST West Bengal” etc.
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List of websites covered by this Google custom search engine
Academia.edu (platform for academics to share research papers) – www.academia.edu
Archive.org – https://archive.org
Centre for Science and Environment – https://www.cseindia.org
Current Conservation – https://www.currentconservation.org
Development and Cooperation (D+C) https://www.dandc.eu
Down To Earth (India) – www.downtoearth.org.in
India Environment Portal – www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in
Harnessing Nature Magazine – https://harnessingnature.online
Mongabay-India – https://india.mongabay.com
M S Swaminathan Research Foundation – www.mssrf.org
Navdanya (protecting India’s biodiversity based food heritage) – https://navdanya.org
People’s Archive of Rural India – https://ruralindiaonline.org/
Third World Network (Penang, Malaysia) – https://twn.my
The Shola Trust (nature conservation in the Nilgiri region) – www.thesholatrust.org

Indian online periodicals and platforms | Images view >>
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Personalize your CustomSearch by combining other search words >>
(e.g. name of a tribal community and region, a craft, or dance and puppetry)
Research: explore PhD theses from all over India
Shodhganga (Open Access)
See also
Accordweb.in | Accord | Articles by co-founder Mari Marcel Thekaekara | Shola Trust
Atree.org | Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology & the Environment (posts)
Climate change | Audio | The Climate Question (BBC Podcast)
Environmental history and what makes for a civilization – Romila Thapar
Equations blog (Equitable Tourism Options)
Information provided by Indian government agencies and other organizations (FAQ)
Nature and wildlife | Crocodile | Elephant | Tiger | Mangrove forest | Trees
PARI’s tales from tiger territory | People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI)
United Nations on climate change
What is the Forest Rights Act about?
Who is a forest dweller under this law, and who gets rights?