Hlib Jiangl Naox Niex

Contributed by ISE Member Amy Eisenberg1 While serving as an International Expert in Hunan Province of southwest China at the Research Institute of Anthropology and Ethnology, Jishou University in impoverished Xiangxi Autonomous Minority Prefecture, Maid Wux, my Hmong graduate student took us to her high mountain village of Hlib Jiangl in the rural reaches of… Read more »

The Root Bridges of Cherrapunji – centuries-old bridges, grown from tangled roots

Reproduced with permission from Atlas Obscura The living bridges of Cherrapunji, India are made from the roots of the Ficus elastica tree. This tree produces a series of secondary roots from higher up its trunk and can comfortably perch atop huge boulders along the riverbanks, or even in the middle of the rivers themselves. Cherrapunji… Read more »

Livelihood and potential conservation roles of wild edible herbs

Contributed to the ISE Newsletter by R.P. Harisha1 Of the over 15000 (33.1%) higher plant species in Indian tropical forest, a wide range of them are harvested for WEH purposes. In particular, dozens of plants are used as wild food plants; harvested from and around arable fields, scrub wood lands, wetlands, and homesteads. Several families… Read more »

Present scenario of user knowledge and availability of Wild Edible Plants in Male Mahadehswara Hills, South India

Contributed to the ISE Newsletter by Harisha Ranganahalli Puttahariyappa I have been chronicling the use of Wild Edible Plants (WEPs) species in the Male Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills Reserve Forest region since 2009. The motivation for this study came through interactions with the community, which time and again returned to the subject of disappearing useful species…. Read more »