Tribals and Conservation of Forests

There are more than 460 tribal groups in India living in selected areas. Neither did they always live in the forests nor did they entirely depend on the forests. Today ninety per cent of the tribals depend on agriculture. The conflict between the interest of the tribals and the interest of the State arises mainly because of an unrealistic division of the developmental efforts into various compartments. The development should be viewed as an integrated concept. For conservation of sal forests in South-West Bengal a new management strategy is being tried, involving fringe population in the protection and management of the forests. The desired motivation has come partly from the experience of the people in absence of the forests and partly from the expectation that the Government will share the usufructs from the forests with them at different stages. Since tribals dominate the forest fringes, they will be the major beneficiaries. This will also help restore the tribal ethos.