Significance of Forests in the Tribal Habitation of Jangalmahal Area in West Bengal (original) (raw)

The tribal communities of Jangalmahal in West Bengal are the oldest settlers of Chotonagpur plateau. They still bear the identity of tribes as they practice the rules followed by their ancestors following an independent route of lifestyle, but frequently facing the forces of market economy. They had been the icon of ecological balance and applied their own wisdom or logic in harnessing and consuming natural resources, their every step of life support was thus 'Eco Logic'. These tribal groups had a deep relation with the forest which controlled their material, social as well as spiritual needs. But gradual thinning out of forest cover has put forward a number of problems before these simple and less-consuming groups. This article is engaged to discern the interactions of tribal, specifically Santal with sub-humid deciduous forest tracts of Jangalmahal area of West Bengal. This paper is an attempt to re-evaluate the extent of symbiotic relation of the tribal community with forest of the area selected on the basis of available information.