LC Project of the month, February 2023

Open Table Discussion on Indigenous Rights and their Empowerment

LC Project of the month, February 2023

LC Collaboration: LC Eberswalde (Germany) & LC FRI (India)

Date of Event: 13th & 14th February 2023

Point of discussion: Role of indigenous communities in the forestry sector

Objective: To spread awareness about indigenous knowledge, rights (violations), stories, and forest conservation practices.

Motivation: Inclusion of the voice of indigenous people more into the IFSA context!

Organising Committee: Vivienne Mack, Neekita Urang, Damya Srivastava

Content: On Day 1 of our webinar, we connected with four experts from India to share more about the violations occurring in indigenous communities and projects supporting these marginalized groups. We heard interesting presentations about the problems and techniques for tackling the injustices. 35 people joined us for this webinar. This allowed us to understand better the importance of indigenous voices in the forestry and nature conservation sector. Bhavya George, Programme Co-ordinator of the KeyStone Foundation, discussed ways to involve communities in practical learning and climate action. Rudrath Avinashi, Project Associate with Kalpavriksh Environment Action Group, focused on conserved community areas and developing a National level portal for India. Meenal Tatpati, Senior Research and Advocacy Associate with Kalpavriksh Environment Action Group spoke about conservation laws in India and their implementation. Finally, Deepak Bara, a Documentary Filmmaker and Development Consultant, shared his expertise in video production and disseminating information for a desirable impact.

Group Photo with our audience after the interactive round

On Day 2 of the webinar, we began with an interactive question series on Slido to discuss how to strengthen our relationship with the indigenous sector. There was a strong majority in favor of more indigenous-focused projects and a second part of the project. After this, we welcomed Bhavna Choudhury, founder of The Indigenous, an international organization working to reduce inequalities for indigenous peoples. Bhavna belongs to the Tai-Ahom tribe from Assam. Her work focuses on global environmental and climate action and how disadvantaged groups can be socially and economically empowered to benefit from recovery strategies. Our motive for Day 2 was to have an open space dedicated to our IFSA family to share some of their own insights, experiences, and stories. It was enthralling to listen to amazing answers from our audience.

Our speakers share their stories with us in an interaction round.

Ms. Bhavna Choudhary, explains the major issues faced by the indigenous people.

Interactive sessions

More links to read and watch:

https://www.theindegenous.org/

FOREST AND THE PEOPLE Jharkhand Jungle Bachao Andolan FCDO, BIRSA, Ranchi Draft cut- 63 min long documentary film focuses on the issue of forest rights of dwelling communities and the journey of JJBA as an organization. Link: https://youtu.be/t98CNGBuWfU

THE HUNT Bodhisattva International Film Festival, Patna, Produced by PSBT and Directed by Biju Toppo, The Film explores the condition of human rights in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha. It questions the government’s thoughtless rapid development model that adversely affects millions of people’s lives. Link: https://youtu.be/RgZ-evPilRk