28/07/2026
reminds us that protecting nature also means protecting the people who have safeguarded it for generations.
For , and communities, climate change is not an environmental issue discussed in conferences—it is a lived reality.
Their livelihoods, culture, language, art, identity, and traditional knowledge are deeply intertwined with forests, rivers, seasons, and ecosystems. When climate patterns change, they don't just lose income—they lose occupations, community confidence, ancestral knowledge, and a way of life.
Many NT-DNT families are forced to live on the most hazardous lands, restoring and inhabiting spaces with minimal ecological impact, yet they continue to face criminalisation, displacement, and exclusion instead of recognition.
For women, the burden is even greater. Climate-induced displacement often pushes NT-DNT, Dalit, and Adivasi women into unsafe, low-paid work while increasing social insecurity, limiting access to education and healthcare, and affecting generations of wellbeing.
This is why Mental Justice must be part of the climate conversation. The mental wellbeing of marginalised communities cannot be separated from the discrimination, violence, displacement, and systemic injustice they experience.
On this Nature Conservation Day, let us move beyond celebrating nature and recognise those who have lived in harmony with it for centuries.
Climate action must create space for NT-DNT and Adivasi communities not only as storytellers, but as leaders, experts, and decision-makers. Conservation is strongest when it is rooted in justice, dignity, and lived knowledge.
Nature cannot be conserved without conserving the communities that protect it.
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