Forests, a precious renewable resource, are habitats of many aborigines and treasure houses of a large number of flora and fauna. Any distortion to them imbalances the life of their inhabitants. Man and Forest series highlights the relevance of indigenous knowledge systems of various South Asian tribal communities in the sustainable management of local resources/forests. Here comes the importance of making a scientific enquiry into the application of indigenous tribal knowledge in rediscovering their methods of production, consumption and conservation, against the all-pervading impact of modernity and the ever-increasing demand for an unbridled use of natural resources.
This monograph — The Hill Bhuinya of Kendujhar — is the eighth in the Man and Forest series and fourth in the Forest Tribes of Orissa: Lifestyle and Social Conditions of Selected Orissan Tribes. It helps in understanding how the Bhuinya perceive their ecosystem; how their sociocultural life is interwoven with the forests and other elements of their ecosystem; their management systems for upkeeping it; and the role their indigenous knowledge plays in their production, consumption and conservation practices, against the backdrop of a considerable depletion of biodiversity during the latter part of the twentieth century.
This book is the result of a detailed study on the forest/hill-dwelling tribe of the Bhuinya of Bhuinyapirh in Banspal Block, Kendujhar District, Odisha since 1996 by a team of anthropologists, ethnosociologists, botanists and ethnobotanists. It was critically revised and analysed, using authentic methods due to changes in the state and central government policies, recently.