Year: 2025
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: India is home to diverse and rich forest ecosystems, which are crucial for biodiversity conservation and climate regulation. For centuries, tribal communities have played a significant role in safeguarding these forests through their traditional practices, cultural traditions, and ecological wisdom. This chapter explores the synergy between tribal ecological wisdom and legal frameworks that govern forest conservation in India.Tribal communities possess a deep understanding of the natural world and have developed sustainable practices for conserving forests, water, soil, flora, and fauna. Their traditional knowledge systems are rooted in a spiritual relationship with nature, where elements like forests, rivers, animals, and mountains are considered sentient entities. The chapter highlights six tribal communities that have effectively conserved forests through their unique practices, such as sacred groves, rotational shifting cultivation, and community-based resource management.The chapter also examines the legal framework supporting tribal forest conservation, including the Forest Rights Act of 2006, the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996, and the Biological Diversity Act of 2002. However, the implementation of these laws has been challenging due to bureaucratic resistance, lack of awareness among tribal communities, and conflicting mandates between conservation and tribal rights.The chapter concludes by recommending policy changes to integrate tribal conservation practices into mainstream forest and biodiversity policy. This includes institutional support for traditional conservation models, capacitybuilding for Gram Sabhas and forest-dwelling communities, and promoting eco-cultural tourism that is led and managed by tribal communities.
Author: M Nidhi
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4412089918