Law of the jungle: millions of indigenous Indians face eviction from ancestral homelands in name of wildlife conservation

In 2006, India passed a law designed to protect the rights of forest tribes who have lived among the trees for generations

But a Supreme Court decision in February, spurred on by conservationists, could see many evicted unless they prove their claims to the land

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Forests occupy much of India’s interior and are home to millions of families. Photo: Nasa

Published: 6:15pm, 30 Mar 2019Updated: 10:33pm, 30 Mar 2019

Vijayalakshmi Porte’s tribe has lived in the forests of central India’s Chhattisgarh state for generations.

Hers is one of the numerous indigenous communities that live in the heavily forested Antagarh region, subsisting on the resources to be found among the trees.

But despite their strong connection with the land, stretching back to time immemorial, Porte and her people are now faced with the prospect of eviction – unless they can produce documentation proving their claim by July.

Vijayalakshmi Porte stands in front of her family home. Photo: Raksha Kumar

India is home to more indigenous people than any other country on Earth. At the last census in 2011 nearly 104 million respondents – about 9 per cent of the population – were categorised as indigenous.

They occupy nearly one-fifth of the country’s total land area, and are considered by some rights groups to be the protectors of the resource-rich terrain.

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