09/08/2021
9th August is celebrated as the "International Day of the World's Indigenous People" as it marks the day of the first meeting, in 1982, of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Population. On this day, people from around the world are encouraged to spread the UN's message on the protection and promotion of the rights of indigenous people.
The indigenous and ethnic people of the world have learnt to live in most hostile environmental conditions.
The most interesting fact about these people is that they live in localities which are immensely rich in biodiversity. Around 300 million indigenous people are living in world, out of which nearly half a million are living in Asia, about 30 million are living in Central and South America and a significant number of them are living in Australia, Europe, New Zealand, Africa, and Soviet Union.
These ethnic and indigenous people have played a vital role in conservation of environmental management and development process as they possess traditional knowledge which has been useful in Eco-restoration. It has been noticed that these people know how to live with harmony in nature.
In India, 68 million people belonging to 227 ethnic group and comprising of 573 tribal communities derived from six racial stocks namely - Negroid, Proto- Australoid, Mongoloid, Mediterranean, West Breachy and Nordic exists in different part of the country.These ethnic people mostly the indigenous tribals live close in the vicinity of forests and have managed and conserved the biodiversity of their localities since long time. These tribals take shelter from forest and utilize wild edible plants both raw and cooked. The flower and fruits are generally eaten raw where as tubers, leaves and seeds are cooked. Tribals utilize forest produce, forest timber and fuelwood. These tribals are living in forest since ages and have developed a kind of affinity with forests & plays a major role in their conservation.
