Protecting The "Environment Protectors".

Many countries celebrated World Environment Day on 5th June. However, the environment is not something that can be celebrated only on one day and then forgotten about thereafter.We people living in the metropolis are so ungrossed into our own world we don't even care about anything around us . We are growingmore and more selfish beings day by day unlike few others .

The tribal communities ,who have made it their everyday to take care of the environment with whole heart . If not for these environmental defenders, the Government and corporations would ensure that we do not have a healthy environment in the coming years.

According to the reports less than 5% of the world’s population of indigenous people is safeguarding 80% of global biodiversity. And here in India, 200 million forest-dwelling communities which include 105 million Adivasis are the line of defence between environmental conservation and the greedy Government and corporates.

India is home to about 700 tribal groups with a population of 104 million, as per 2011 census. These indigenous people constitute the second largest tribal population in the world after Africa. As industries encroached upon their lands, many communities were displaced and some continued to wage a struggle to either protect their homes or demand a fair compensation. By taking away forest lands for industries and plantation forestry instead of preserving natural species that provide livelihood to these people, the government was depriving them of the basic means of livelihood.

They have served these forest for centuries. And deserve the rightfull authority of those forests. Recognising their rights to forest areas and forest management practices is critical to understand their struggle for survival. Loss of forest cover, mining and the expansion of hybrid crops remain direct threats to food security of these people who count on forest resources and wild food. There is urgent need to have a safe environmental for all the tribal communities in India or around the world. They are the true protectors of our environment . And they should have all the rights they deserve .