Forests and the people who live with them

Ecotourism means visiting nature in a way that does not harm it and helps local people. Unlike crowded mass tourism, it keeps the damage small, respects local communities and teaches visitors about nature: for example, visiting a national park or trekking through a rainforest with a local guide.

• The Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme of the Ministry of Tourism develops sustainable tourism places, with a focus on conservation and on involving local communities.
• Thenmala, in Kollam district, Keralam, was the first place in India planned for ecotourism. Its name means 'Honey Hill'. Local people work there as guides, eco-guards and service providers, so the money stays in the community.

Forests feed families. Rural and tribal communities get food, fuel, fodder, medicine, timber, bamboo and firewood from forests. Many products can be taken without cutting a tree: honey, fruits, nuts, resins and medicinal plants. These are non-timber forest products (NTFPs): tendu leaves, mahua flowers, lac and more. Before they collect anything, communities such as the Bhils and Gonds hold rituals for the forest's gods, a way of taking only what is needed.

Sacred groves are small patches of forest that communities protect for religious and cultural reasons. India has over 1,00,000 of them, with names such as Devrai (Maharashtra), Devarakadu (Karnataka), Kavu (Keralam) and Sarna (Jharkhand). Though small, they are rich in rare plants, medicinal species and wildlife, and some keep streams and groundwater alive.

Forest dwellers are tied to the forest in many ways (Fig. 2.17):

• household needs: firewood, fodder, wild fruits, roots, tubers, medicinal plants;
• income: gathering and processing NTFPs;
• knowledge holders: they know which herb heals what, like a grandmother's leaf paste for a boil, and pass it down the generations;
• culture: forests are part of their rituals, festivals and beliefs;
• protection: in Rajasthan, Amrita Devi led the Bishnoi movement, and it inspired the Chipko movement in Uttarakhand: women from the villages hugged trees so they could not be cut.

Women play a big part: they collect and manage forest resources, keep traditional knowledge alive and add to the family's income.

GI tags. When you hear 'Darjeeling' you think of tea. Some forest products are so tied to their home region that they get a Geographical Indication (GI) tag: a legal label saying the product comes from that place and gets its special quality from it. It protects the product's name, keeps cultural traditions alive and helps local producers earn more. Examples (Fig. 2.19): Ramban Sulai Honey (J&K), Tezpur Litchi (Assam), Channapatna toys (Karnataka, from the wood of the Aale mara tree), Kandhamal Haldi (Odisha, grown by tribal communities), Erode Turmeric (Tamil Nadu), Nilgiri Tea, Tripura Queen Pineapple and Khasi Mandarin (Meghalaya). Several grow in forest-influenced soils: soils shaped over a long time by forest plants, roots and fallen leaves.