Tripura’s Forests Speak on Biodiversity Day: A Call for Action, Not Just Celebration
Devid Debbarma
May 22, 2025
As the world marks the International Day for Biological Diversity, the dense green canopy of Tripura’s forests stands as a quiet but urgent reminder: protecting biodiversity is not an option, it is a necessity. In this small northeastern state where over 60% of the land is covered in forests, biodiversity is not just a global issue—it is deeply personal, cultural, and economic.
This year’s global theme, “Be Part of the Plan,” urges communities and governments alike to act together. For Tripura, that plan is already growing—from the forest floors of Dhalai and the herbal gardens of Khowai to the tribal wisdom passed through generations.
A Natural Heritage Beyond Numbers Tripura may be modest in size, but its natural wealth is immense. The state hosts thousands of plant species, including over 300 medicinal plants, and supports rare and endangered animals like the Clouded Leopard, Phayre’s Leaf Monkey, and the Hoolock Gibbon. Forest reserves like Trishna, Sepahijala, and Rowa are not just tourist destinations but essential ecological lungs.
What makes Tripura’s biodiversity truly unique is that it is still living in the hands, homes, and heritage of its tribal communities. These indigenous people don’t just live near the forests—they live with them.
The Tribal Connection: Where Culture Meets Conservation Across Tripura’s hills and valleys, tribal women are reviving traditional herbal knowledge to craft modern solutions. From neem oil to tulsi tea, from turmeric balm to bamboo soap, they are building eco-friendly livelihoods rooted in nature.
One such woman in Kanchanpur said, “These forests feed us, heal us, and even clothe us. We don’t destroy them—we depend on them.” Her Self Help Group now supplies herbal balms to markets in Agartala.
Schemes like the Van Dhan Yojana and support from the State Medicinal Plants Board are enabling communities to earn without cutting down trees—showing that conservation and commerce can coexist.
Threats That Cannot Be Ignored Despite these hopeful developments, the threats to biodiversity in Tripura are real. Unsustainable shifting cultivation, illegal logging, land encroachment, and vanishing herbal species are urgent concerns. Climate change has made rainfall unpredictable, further affecting both biodiversity and agriculture.
Wildlife habitats are shrinking. Sacred groves that once stood untouched are now under pressure. If the current trends continue, Tripura risks losing not just species, but stories, traditions, and a deep ecological balance. A Green Push from the Ground Up The Tripura Forest Department marked this year’s Biodiversity Day with fresh commitments—extending herbal farming to more tribal zones, training Self Help Groups in packaging and marketing, and launching plantation drives in degraded areas.
In schools, students planted saplings, designed posters of endangered species, and pledged to be “green guardians.” Teachers emphasized the importance of respecting indigenous knowledge systems and promoting sustainability as part of modern education.
A Shared Responsibility Biodiversity in Tripura is not just the domain of forest officials or scientists. It belongs to every household, every student, every policymaker, and every tribal elder. This Biodiversity Day must go beyond celebrations—it should be a turning point.
We must move from awareness to action, from slogans to saplings, from policy to participation. As a tribal elder from the Atharamura hills put it: “The day we forget the forest is the day we forget ourselves.”
( The Author is State Secretary of BJP , Tripura Pradesh )
(Tripurainfo)
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