The Hindu : Tribal people to help in biodiversity conservation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 23, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Tribal people to help in biodiversity conservation

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 22. The Forest Department is working on a new strategy to pool the knowledge of the tribal people and scientists to determine the biodiversity status of the State's forests so that special attention could be devoted to the conservation of rare and endangered plants.

The idea is to conduct a resource mapping of each area by combining the practical knowledge of the tribal people and the expertise of scientists so as to initiate measures to conserve vanishing species.

Replenishing the growth of such species in the area could also be done.

The resource mapping will be in areas from where tribal people collect non-timber produces for their livelihood.

Says P.N. Unnikrishnan, Chief Conservator of Forests (Tribal Welfare): "The new Forest Policy fully acknowledges the right of the tribal people to use the resources of the forests.

"Our effort is to train them to use the forest wealth in a sustainable way."

More than 200 Vana Samrakshana Samithis (VSSs) have already been formed in the State to involve the tribal people and others living on the fringes of the forests in conservation activities.

More VSSs are being formed to cover the entire forest tracts that are being exploited for non-timber produces.

Central allocations for conservation activities are proposed to be utilised entirely through these societies in future.

"We will not go by any `red data books' in identifying the rare and endangered species. The tribal people know which species had been abundant in an area in the past and are rarely found now.

If some species are vanishing from an area, the reasons have to be found and remedial measures taken. This will be our approach," Mr. Unnikrishnan says.

The term `biodiversity conservation', of course, has big dimensions.

However, for the people who depend on the forests for their subsistence, it means basically conserving the resources that make their survival possible, or sustaining the lifeline that supports them.

The new strategy is based on this straightforward philosophy, according to Mr. Unnikrishnan.

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