Vol. 12, Special Issue 10 (2023)

Author(s):
Shubhra Payasi, Parvez Rajan, Kamini Bisht and Gourav Kumar Vani

Abstract:
Forest-based tribal livelihoods are a crucial aspect of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, as they highlight the importance of indigenous knowledge and sustainable use of natural resources. Forest products play a significant role in the livelihood of tribal communities, who often have a deep connection to and dependency on the forests for their survival. Forests provide a wide array of resources that meet their basic needs, such as food, shelter, medicine, and income generation opportunities. In Madhya Pradesh, a significant percentage of tribal communities depend on forests for their livelihoods. According to a report by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, about 75% of the tribal population in Madhya Pradesh is directly or indirectly dependent on forests. Forest contributes 1.7% of GDP of the country. Thus, the present investigation was conducted in six villages of two blocks each namely, Burhar and Sohagpur of Shahdol district, Madhya Pradesh to analyse the attitude of tribal farmers towards forest based livelihood practices. The data were collected with the help of well structured interview schedule from 105 farmers. Findings of the study revealed that age, gender, education, annual income from forest practices, annual income, land holding, occupation, economic motivation, adoption of forest based livelihood practices, knowledge about forest based livelihood practices, market orientation, utilization of forest resources, social participation, cosmopoliteness were significantly and positively related with attitude of tribal farmers towards forest based livelihood practices. Majority of the tribal farmers 60.00 percent were found to have had favourable attitude towards forest based livelihood practices.