Sustainable management of tropical forest through indigenous knowledge: A case study of Shompens of Great Nicobar Island

All over the world tropical forests are depleting at very fast pace. Today, rainforest cover which is less than about 6% of the earth’s land area still contain more than 50% of all species. It is important to preserve this biological diversity. The genetic resources contained in the forests are the common heritage of humankind, and may well prove to be vitally important to the progress and development of the human race. But it is virtually impossible to preserve these resources unless we take the help of indigenous people and their knowledge. In this context, the study aims to provide a glimpse of the vast repository of indigenous knowledge of an autochthons Andamane tribe namely Shompen under lifestyle, knowledge about forest/plants and biodiversity and indigenous methods of forest management.