If you look around, you will be able to find out how we have transformed nature into a resource obtaining directly and indirectly from the forests and wildlife – wood, barks, leaves, rubber, medicines, dyes, food, fuel, fodder, manure, etc. So it is we ourselves who have depleted our forests and wildlife.

The greatest damage inflicted on Indian forests was during the colonial period due to the expansion of the railways, agriculture, commercial and scientific forestry and mining activities.

Even after Independence, agricultural expansion continues to be one of the major causes of depletion of forest resources. Substantial parts of the tribal belts, especially in the northeastern and central India, have been deforested or degraded by shifting cultivation (jhum), a type of ‘slash and burn’ agriculture. Large-scale development projects have also contributed significantly to the loss of forests.

Conservation strategies are not new in our country.

(i)Nature worship is an age old tribal belief based on the premise that all creations of nature have to be protected. Such beliefs have preserved several virgin forests in pristine form called Sacred Groves (the forests of God and Goddesses).

(ii)These patches of forest or parts of large forests have been left untouched by the local people and any interference with them is banned. Certain societies revere a particular tree which they have preserved from time immemorial.

(iii)The Mundas and the Santhal of Chhota Nagpur region worship mahua (Bassia latifolia) and kadamba (Anthocaphalus cadamba) trees, and the tribals of Orissa and Bihar worship the tamarind (Tamarindus indica) and mango (Mangifera indica) trees during weddings.


(iv)To many of us, peepal and banyan trees are considered sacred. Indian society comprises several cultures, each with its own set of traditional methods of conserving nature and its creations. Sacred qualities are often ascribed to springs, mountain peaks, plants and animals which are closely protected.

(v)We would find troops of macaques and langurs around many temples. They are fed daily and treated as a part of temple devotees. In and around Bishnoi villages in Rajasthan, herds of blackbuck, (chinkara), nilgai and peacocks can be seen as an integral part of the community and nobody harms them.

Good practices towards conserving forest and wildlife are numerous.
(i) Nowadays, many non-governmental organisations are working towards creating public awareness for conserving depleting forest cover and vanishing wildlife.
(ii) Central and state governments in India have set up national parks and wildlife sanctuaries to protect forests and endangered species in wildlife.
(iii) Various communities, especially in tribal areas, who are dependent on forests for their living are now taking an active role in this form of conservation.