Conservation and Management of Plant Resources by Tribe of Vindhyan Region of Madhya Pradesh

Abstract

The tribes and local forests are intimately correlated socially and economically, the tribes depend on forest their behaviours, working convention and agriculture practices are in relation to the natural protection. They have developed their own methods of conserving many species which they felt are at the verge of extinction. Vindhyan region is known for natural forests and tribes. The tropical deciduous forests of the area are full of biodiversity. Tribes of study area do conserve plants that are socially, medically, economically and culturally significant to them. Nobody cuts Madhuca longifolia (Mahua), Buchanania lanzan(Char), Mangifera indica (Aam), Tamarindus indica (Imli) etc. They mark those trees even in the jungles and protect them. All the plants in the ‘sacred groves’ Shorea robusta (Sal), Haldina cordifolia (Haldu), Ficus bengalensis(Bargad), Ficus religiosa (Peepal), Azadirachta indica (Neem), Ocimum sanctum (Tulsi) and those which are totems of other clans are also preserved. To protect the most exploited, rare and threatened varieties, the tribes do follow unwritten rules, in the form of so-called superstitions. All these general rules help in preserving the plants from destruction. Present research papers give some idea regarding the plants conserved by the tribes of the region and justification behind it. Thus it can be inferred that recording traditional methods of harvesting and identifying resources is important for understanding the regeneration capacity and perpetuation possibilities of the species. Conclusively, the tribes life is forest based; hence these people practice judicious use of the plant resources and conserve many plant species.