The Dongria Kondhs are a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group who have inhabited the Niyamgiri hill ranges in Odisha, (an Eastern state) in India for centuries. With a population of more than 8,000, the Dongria Kondhs rely on the forests for sustenance, practicing hunting, gathering, and shifting cultivation. The Niyamgiri hills are central to their identity and livelihoods.

The tribe once again has created quite a stir, with another episode of marginalization.

The Indian Government on 26th July 2023 passed the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill 2023 with the aim of conserving and protecting forest lands. However, the Bill has come under criticism for its potential to further marginalize vulnerable indigenous communities like the Dongria Kondh tribe who have called the Niyamgiri hills their home for centuries. Of particular concern is the impact on Dongria Kondh women who have traditionally relied on minor forest produce collection and sales for sustenance and income generation.

Through this article, I explore the extent to which the 2023 Bill threatens the cultural identity, livelihoods, and forest-based occupations of Dongria Kondh women. Through an analysis of the Bill's provisions, historical precedent of exclusionary conservation policies, and perspectives of Dongria Kondh women themselves, I will examine the marginalisation caused by denying access to ancestral forestlands and its plethora of resources. The loss of traditional occupations and displacement from the forest environment also raises critical questions about the erosion of tribal heritage, autonomy, and women's status in the Dongria Kondh social structure. Through this article, I hereby argue to give voice to this marginalised indigenous group and inform more inclusive, participatory approaches to conservation policy in India.

What is the 'infamous' Forest Conservation Amendment Bill 2023?

The Forest Conservation Amendment Bill 2023 amends the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 to modify the criteria for including and excluding forest land from the purview of the Act. It covers land declared or notified as a forest under the Indian Forest Act 1927 or any other law. It also covers land recorded as a forest after October 25, 1980, in government records. However, land converted to non-forest use before December 12, 1996, is exempted.

The Bill also exempts certain categories of land like land up to 100 km from international borders for national security projects, small roadside amenities, and public roads leading to habitation. Further, the assignment of any forest land by a state government to any entity will require prior central government approval, even if the entity is government-owned or controlled.

The Act permits certain activities like establishing check posts and wireless communication in forests without central approval. The Bill expands this list to include establishing zoos, safaris, eco-tourism facilities, silvicultural operations, and any other purpose specified by the central government. It also empowers the central government to issue directions to any authority for implementing the Act.

Overall, the Bill seeks to expand the purview of the Act to unnotified forest lands recorded after 1980 while also exempting some lands. It permits more activities in forests without central approval but makes leasing of forest lands to entities subject to central oversight.

Another Day, Another Bill, Another Act of (gendered) Injustice and Marginalisation

The recent Forest Conservation Amendment Bill 2023 severely marginalizes the women of the Dongria Kondh tribe by restricting their ancestral rights to access and sustainably utilize forest resources in the Niyamgiri hills, thereby resulting in the loss of their traditional occupations, economic autonomy, social status, and cultural identity. For centuries, the Dongria Kondh women have relied on gathering non-timber minor forest produce like tamarind, mahua flowers, and medicinal herbs, and selling these in local markets as a crucial source of livelihood and income. However, by criminalizing such collection of forest produce, the 2023 Bill effectively strips them of their traditional role as economic providers for their households and undermines the forest-based knowledge they possess.

With limited education or skills for urban employment, the loss of their forest-based subsistence livelihood hampers the Dongria Kondh women's capacity to adapt, leaving them financially dependent on men and increasingly vulnerable. Within the Dongria Kondh community, women as gatherers and sellers of forest produce have enjoyed relative economic independence and decision-making power over incomes generated. The erosion of their forest access and the ensuing loss of occupation leads to their loss of social status and diminishes their role in the community's power structure. Moreover, the symbiotic relationship shared by Dongria Kondh women with the Niyamgiri forest ecosystem has been integral to their cultural identity for generations. Severing this unique connection severs a part of their identity. The 2023 Bill also excludes indigenous women from participating in conservation efforts, rendering invisible their sustainable practices that have protected the Niyamgiri forests so far. Hence, indefinitely, the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill disregards Dongria Kondh women's heritage of sustenance from the forests and fails to empower them, resulting in their economic, social, and cultural marginalization.

By expanding the activities permitted in forest areas without central government approval, such as mining surveys, the Bill could facilitate mining projects in forest dwellers' habitats like Niyamgiri. This may threaten the cultural and economic interests of tribes like Dongria Kondh.

Who to worship if no more forests exist?

The Dongria Kondh tribe inhabits the lush Niyamgiri hill ranges in Odisha, India, and has strong religious and cultural ties to these sacred hilly forests. The tribe worships Niyam Raja, the mountain god who is believed to have created the Niyamgiri hills, and other deities such as Dharani Penu, the Earth goddess. The Forest Conservation Amendment Bill 2023 threatens to severely impact the religious customs and way of life of the Dongria Kondh people.

The Niyamgiri hills are regarded as the mythical kingdom of Niyam Raja and contain shrines and sites of worship to him, Dharani Penu, and other gods spread across the forests. The tribe offers animal sacrifices, harvest gifts, and other offerings to these deities. The verdant hills also nurture hundreds of perennial streams considered sacred. By excluding unclassified deemed forests like Niyamgiri from protection, the bill opens the landscape to excavation activities, construction of roads, and infrastructure that could desecrate these sacred sites and disrupt the flowing streams. Loss of forest cover and habitat depletion could disturb the cosmic balance that the tribe believes Niyam Raja and other gods sustain. Displacement from ancestral domains risks alienating the Dongria Kondh from the hallowed geography they have protected for generations. In essence, by failing to shield Niyamgiri's pristine ecology, the Bill threatens the continuity of the tribe's spiritual customs and cosmology that treat the forests and hills as the sanctified realm of their gods.

What now?

The passage of the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill 2023 has provoked disquiet amongst indigenous communities residing in India's forested regions. Of particular concern is the potential impact on religious customs and livelihoods of tribes like the Dongria Kondh inhabiting the Niyamgiri hills of Odisha. By excluding unclassified deemed forests from regulatory protections, the Bill facilitates mining and infrastructure projects in pristine habitats without the consent of forest dwellers. This threatens not just material sustenance derived from minor forest produce collection and sale, but also risks effacing spiritual geographies and age-old belief systems scripted onto the landscape.

As evidenced by their staunch resistance to bauxite excavation in Niyamgiri, the hill ranges are far more to the Dongria Kondh than just economic hinterlands. They are the hallowed domain of their gods and the cosmic geography where tribal identity itself is rooted. The Niyamgiri hills contain shrines to deities like Niyam Raja and Dharani Penu, sources of perennial streams deemed holy, sites of animal sacrifice, and other rituals that bind man with forest. By failing to shield unclassified forests, the Bill sanctions potential desecration of these sacred sites by mining activities and risks alienating tribes from lands they have protected for generations. Translocation further severs their umbilical link to the landscape they see as home to their mountain gods. 

Clearly, beyond just biodiversity impacts, the Bill has deep cultural and religious implications for indigenous communities like Dongria Kondh. Although the motivation behind infrastructure exemptions is understandable, consent, detailed impact assessments, and selective safeguards are vital while opening up Fifth Schedule areas. Integrating tribal rights conferred under the Forest Rights Act 2006 can prevent arbitrary evictions. Preferential rights over minor forest produce collection versus commercial entities can sustain forest-based livelihoods. In conclusion, the Bill needs more inclusive policymaking by taking indigenous voices on board. Their unique wisdom can inform sustainable pathways to balance India's development needs with cultural and ecological conservation.

More information- 

1. To read up on who Dhongria Kondhs are, please visit the Government of India’s Ministry of Tribal Affairs website
2. If you intend to learn about the struggles of the Dhongria Kondhs tribe and their land rights, check out the work of Survival International Organisation as well
3. At present, the following organisations and institutions have raised their voice against the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill, 2023: - 

• National Institute of Advanced Studies
• Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment
• Indian Institute of Science
• National Centre for Biological Sciences
• National University of Singapore and Trinity College, Dublin