Most of the research that takes place within the academic communities, remains confined without percolating down to the common man and making him a partner to the cause. This, however, was not acceptable to the team of researchers from the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, UK, who undertook to investigate whether the Joint Forest Management (JFM) programme adopted at Harda in south-west Madhya Pradesh was able to safeguard the forests from exploitation and at the same time sustain the local communities as claimed.

Funded by the UK Department for International Development, the team for the research project included representatives from the Enviro-Legal Defence Firm, Delhi; Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal; Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi; Sanket Information and Research Agency, Bhopal; The Energy and Resources Institute, Delhi and Winrock International India, Delhi, besides University of Cambridge.

The research was carried out between June 2003 and August 2004. The findings from the research revealed a mixed picture but affirmed a close relationship between tribal rights, livelihoods and forest protection, and the need to consider these in a holistic manner. ‘‘We realised that we were dealing with an important issue and unless the findings of the research were made accessible to the masses, it would not make a required impact,’’ said Bhaskar Vira, lecturer in Environment and Development, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge.

The project team conducted meetings and workshops at local, state and national levels with policymakers, actors, NGOs, politicians and others. A street-play ‘Jungle ki katha’ was also devised and held at the village level to sensitise local communities. Now, however, the team wants to venture beyond the local beneficiaries and reach the urban audience, especially the youth through various mediums including a documentary movie Forest Dialogues, CDs and DVDs of the street play and even a comic book The Spirit of the Forest.

The play explores the impact of deforestation and fire, whereas the documentary film projects the opinion of the various stakeholders and highlights the fact that it is a source of livelihood to over 80 million people. The comic book, available in both English and Hindi, talks about the depleting natural resources and how it affects a large percentage of our population.

Published by the Viveka Foundation, the comic book was released in the Capital last week by Dayabai, a social worker who has been living in the Gond tribal hamlets of Madhya Pradesh for the last 20 years and fighting for the cause. Dayabai gave a moving performance ‘Rape of mother earth’, on the occasion, which brought to the fore the plight of mother earth, the nexus between forest officials, rangers and guards, and called for people’s participation.

It was followed by a musical rendition by Susmit Bose, an urban folk musician, who sang about nature and present day social issues. In order to disseminate their findings, the team is keen on reaching out to schools. ‘‘We want schools to get in touch with us. Members from the project team can visit them, talk about the issue, show documentaries and leave copies of comics, which students can pursue later,’’ said Vira.