India's Forest Movements Defend Livelihoods, Memory, and Community Rights

The article says forests are much more than collections of trees.

For many communities, forests provide food, fuel, water, fodder, soil protection, and cultural memory.

In 1730, Amrita Devi Bishnoi and 362 other Bishnois died while protecting trees in Khejarli.

Later, people in Bastar resisted colonial rules that restricted their traditional forest practices.

Women in the Chipko movement hugged trees because commercial logging threatened their daily lives.

The Appiko movement in Karnataka called for forests to be saved, expanded, and used carefully.

Sacred groves in Meghalaya show how communities can protect nature through shared customs.

The article argues that government plans should respect local people’s knowledge and relationships with forests.

It also warns that replacing living forests with plantations, mines, roads, or carbon projects can destroy memories and livelihoods.