Abhishek Gupta

Forest conservation has been a topic of discussion for millennia, and it has grown even more critical in the face of climate change issues. During the conservation debate, indigenous people living within the forest ecosystem become the focus of attention, and without recognising their needs, this debate is incomplete. The issues faced by these people are hardly getting any attention from the mainstream media.

Youth4Water Plus, a UNICEF Odisha campaign, in collaboration with the Mayurbhanj Foundation and Mission LiFE, hosted a media interaction and engagement workshop for regional journalists on May 16 and 17, 2023, at Belgadia Palace in Baripada, to kick off this conversation. The workshop emphasised the importance of climate change in the district and the urgency of raising awareness about other factors such as poaching, alternative livelihoods, rampant forest fires, and rising temperatures in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district. It also focused on how youth engagement and livelihood opportunities are crucial factors to consider in this entire process.

People’s reliance on forest resources becomes the hot topic in forest conservation debate, and many environmentalists and activists focus on offering other livelihoods to the people so that they can limit their reliance on or activities in the forest. It is critical to understand the nature of the alternative livelihood we are proposing because it is broadly divided into two types: the first is providing an entirely separate set of livelihood opportunities that have nothing to do with the forest ecosystem, and the second is having more livelihood opportunities within and related to the forest ecosystem by promoting non-timber forest produce with indigenous nature, such as horticulture, apiculture, medicinal herb cultivation, and so on.

 

Despite investing significant resources in this alternative lifestyle outside the forest eco-system, results are frequently disappointing due to ignorance of

prospective conservation areas’ socioeconomic demands, poorly planned, and failed initiatives.

 

People’s commitment to the mother land is also crucial to consider, which is often overlooked by development planners. Our faith and belief system in the forest and its eco-system motivate us to safeguard it. No one with a so-called pure scientific temperament has worked as hard to maintain forest ecosystems as people from indigenous religious systems have. The recent hit Kannada film “Kantara” is an excellent example from the popular culture to understand this phenomenon.

This question of people’s faith changes this whole idea of alternative livelihood because removing people from their forest for an entirely different livelihood cuts their ties from their roots, and they don’t care for forest conservation anymore with the same degree of involvement. Though increasing population and changing consumption patterns drive us to consider other possibilities, interdependent sustainability through livelihood diversification becomes critical and a sustainable strategy to seek solutions.

More Posts

Become a Climate & WASH Champion!

Join the Youth4Water Plus Campaign, and act together for the Climate & WASH.