Question

14. Read the following paragraph and write your interpreta tion.
a) Even though the adivasis and villagers sometimes cleared large areas of forests by cutting down trees for cultivation, large areas of land were still left under forest cover. Sometimes there were tensions between farmers and tribal people over this. But these farmers and adivasis who used these forests also protected them.​

Answer 1

Answer:

Explanation:

Several research studies have revealed that stewardship by forest-dwelling communities considerably slows the rate of forest degradation. Since mitigating and adapting to climate change requires sustainable forests management, the tribal people who have been living in and around the forest for millennia could play a key role.

But this proven logic is highly criticised by conservationists as they firmly believe that the presence of tribal communities in the forest is deleterious for the wildlife and ecosystem. And many countries’ governments often encourage eviction of tribal communities with an agenda to boost safari, create protected areas and attract tourism. In the process, the tribal communities continue to pay the brutal price for conservation.  

“It has been estimated that 50 per cent of protected areas worldwide have been established on lands traditionally occupied and used by tribal people,” said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. “For over a century, conservation has resulted in cultural destruction and large-scale displacements of tribal people from their ancestral lands.”