Dhamditola, India, Feb 28
In the pleasant climate of February, it is hard to imagine that day time temperatures in May in the arid Vidarbha region of India’s Maharashtra state can climb to a sweltering 48 degrees Celsius.
It is then that residents of Dhamditola village are busiest, harvesting tendu leaves that are used to roll beedis, the cheap cigarettes with unfiltered tobacco that are favoured in rural areas.
For the indigenous communities who live on the edge of the forest in the western state, the collection and sale of tendu leaves, bamboo and mahua flowers and seeds – used to make liquor and soap – have long been an important part of their livelihood.
But their access to tendu and bamboo forests used to be limited, and they were not allowed to sell the products themselves; instead, they sold them to forest officials, who then sold them to buyers.
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