In Rajasthan, tribal women save precious trees from the Indian desert

Rajasthan is the largest and driest region in India. Temperatures there regularly exceed 50°C. The sandy desert to the east progresses towards the wooded areas of the west, the green lung of this 90% desert state.

The protection of these forests, abused for more than a century – deforestation linked to illegal cutting of precious wood, burning for pastures, overexploitation – has become a national priority, and for the tribes who live there. Among them, the Bhils and the Garasiyas, organized by groups, autonomous or associative, in the Kotra area, south of Udaipur.

On the front line of climate change, these “forest peoples”, as they like to define themselves, live from magra, the jungle. The women drive the cattle there. Under the stifling heat, their brightly colored silhouettes sneak into the sparse, dry woods to pick fruits and berries. They also collect branches which they use to heat themselves, cook, and build their homes, or stop to pray at the foot of the sacred banyan trees.

This visceral connection to the trees pushes them to mobilize. Accompanied by the association for the protection of the rights of tribal communities, Kotra Adivasi Sansthan (KAS), they meet their fellow citizens and spread their message of awareness. Or use the pictorial and spiritual art of mandana consisting of painting nature on the walls of houses using flower powder. A way to alert populations.