Sukma Bijapur Bastar Forest Food Tribal Ecology

Sukma and Bijapur districts in the southernmost Bastar plateau are India's most densely tribal and forest-covered districts, where the Dorla, Bhatra, and Muria Gond communities practise traditional shifting cultivation (bewar podu), collect and eat 30-40 types of wild forest foods (greens, tubers, mushrooms, wild fruits), and maintain knowledge of 200+ medicinal plants used by tribal healers. The forested landscape of Sukma-Bijapur is the heartland of the Naxal movement's conflict with security forces, with over 250 government camps and patrolling occurring alongside the tribal communities' traditional forest activities. The Sabari river (tributary of Godavari) flows through Sukma creating the district's eastern boundary with Andhra Pradesh.