Environment-Cultural Interaction and the Tribes of North-East India

Book excerpt: All life forms on earth are complementary to each other; the existence and survival of one depend on the existence of another, and vice versa. However, no life forms are more dependent on others than human beings. Humans’ very survival is conditioned by the existence of the natural environment and the living things within it. One aspect of this interaction is the central and inescapable role played by human culture in defining the human-nature relationship. This book emphasises that environmental conservation is a matter of moral and cultural ethics. It stresses the fact that existing environmental conservation methods need to accommodate traditional environmental knowledge and practices of different indigenous cultures in order to re-build and restore the bond between humans and nature.