Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

The global south like India is one of the best examples of sustainability lessons in terms of communities are developing better local environmental change. In India, Appiko and Chipko movements are the best example of sustainable environmental management as well as a livelihood for millions of forest-dependent communities. Moreover, traditional or indigenous knowledge has brought a number of socio-economic and environmental changes in India. Traditional knowledge has been a vital role in ecological restoration the Western Ghats (Global Hotspot) in Karnataka, India. However, sustainable livelihood support from forest ecosystem is one of the critical examples from the study area. In the above context, the main objective of the paper is to analyze the traditional knowledge and sustainable livelihood of the Soliga tribal community in Karnataka, India. This study has used both primary and secondary data for analyzing traditional knowledge and sustainable livelihood of 350 Soliga tribal households in Karnataka. The result of the study has found that traditional knowledge is one of the important roles of livelihood in all households as well as food security of present and future. In addition, traditional knowledge has to conserve richness and diversity of flora and fauna in the forest. This study provides new insights the traditional knowledge has one of the important sources and tools for achieving ecological sustainability and reduction of poverty at the local level.