Tribal scholars return to save forests

One tribal family has gone down in history as the family that helped British experts map India’s biodiversity in Joida, popularly known as the emerald forest. This family belonged to the Derekar clan of Kunabi tribe in Deriya village.

Fast forward 75 years, and now the sons of Derekar have again taken up a similar mission, and even more — that of recording the region’s biodiversity and educating the tribals about the importance of conservation of forests.

Jayananda Derekar and Ravi Derekar are the first of the clan to be educated. After completing sociology from Mysore University, the brothers returned to their homeland, only to find things to have changed for the worse.

They were shocked to find several wildlife species missing. The elders of the tribe then revealed the bitter truth of the almost-lost tribal civilization, which was ruined by hunters, poachers, and timber mafia.

Shocked, the brothers investigated the territory and found that the damage was extensive. “We dropped the idea of going back to college and decided to do something about this outrage. But the challenge was formidable.

We had to face opposition from our parents as they were afraid the hunters and poachers were remorseless and could even take our lives. Moreover, there is an organised timber mafia working hand-in-glove with influential people,” said Jayananda.

“When we were young, my brother and I walked seven km to reach school. On our way, we used to encounter varieties of wildlife species, such as toddy cats, civets, wild boars, and rodents. They were so wild and full of life. But they aren’t there anymore. The situation in Joida tiger reserve is even worse. Due to tree fellers, tigers and other large animals have moved deep into the jungle,” said Ravi, an ardent lover of nature.

Manjunath Salloli, information officer of Uttara Kannada who has documented the work carried out by Jayananda and Ravi, said: “They are both extraordinary youths. They are academically well disposed to research deep. So they gave up the idea of giving lectures in the university and proactively took up the task of educating the tribals. They prepared charts and a biodiversity register and gave audio-visual presentations to the rural folk on their laptop.”

“We stress more on inter-dependence of man and nature. In the recent times, tribes are being misled by commercial interests, which has distracted them from natural way of life. Since they are the last line of defence to the forest department against poaching and hunting, their role is paramount,” said Jayananda.

Forest officials have also started working together with the Derekar brothers.  “For the past two years, the tribes have regulated the way they use the forests. There is less hunting, less collection of minor forest wastes, and almost no tree felling.” said a forest official. But the brothers feel the forest still needs protection and government backing.