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A Symbiotic Relationship Between Indigenous People & Natural Forest of Ajodhya Foothills, Purulia, West Bengal

SOURAV BISWAS, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

The interrelationship between man and the environment has been seen continuously for ages. People of different tribes in India and different parts of the world make a living by using forests in different ways. Ajodhya foothill is an area where Santali lives in large numbers. They have mostly associated with forest-based primary works. The houses of the people of this region are covered with palm leaves or straw. Earthen walls and verandas can be seen next to the house. The people of this region used to make a living by hunting in the past. The Santals here have survived by spreading over the forest they use the forest for religious purposes, for domestic, for in economic, sometimes in medicine, etc. Plants like Kalmegh, Aparajita, Datura, Mahwa etc. are used for various types of medicine by the tribal people here. This region covers an area of 402.1 Km², of this, 164.48 Km² area is densely forested and 235.93 Km² area is covered by grasslands and degraded forests. (USGS EARTH EXPLORER, Landsat 8, 31/01/2020 data, NDVI value taken >0.25 for dense forest and 0 to 0.25 indicate grasslands and degraded forests.) There are only 1.66 Km² where there is no forests cover.

Keywords: Environmental studies, Economic analysis, Culture, ethnicity, race, religion and language, Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

See paper.

  Presented in Session P1.