Nat.Volatiles&Essent.Oils,2021;8(4):5724-5737 5724 Ecology and sustainability: Mining vis-à-vis Livelihood Amongst the Tribals of Caurem Village - Goa , India 1 Nandkumar Sawant, 2 Ulhas Gaonkar, 3 Deepak Kumbhar 1 Professor & Head Department of geography and Research Center, Parvatibai Chowgule College (Autonomous), Margao-Goa, India 2 Research scholar Department of geography and Research Center, Parvatibai Chowgule College (Autonomous), Margao-Goa, India 3 Assistant Professor Department of geography and Research Center, Parvatibai Chowgule College (Autonomous), Margao-Goa, India Abstract Goa though a small state has a spectrum of tribals inhabiting the interior locations along the foothills of western ghats. These locations are also endowed with rich mineral deposits in the talukas of Sanguem, Bicholim, Sattari and Quepem - the core habitat of the tribals. Thus in early decade of this century, Caurem a tribal village in Quepem taluka witnessed a transformation from agricultural base to mining base. However, mining was banned by the Supreme Court of India in the state of Goa in 2012 due to environmental issues. This has brought the tribals at the cross roads. The main objective of this research is to study in perceptions of local population on impact of mining on livelihood of tribals and their surroundings. The research is primarily based on field survey wherein 65 varied respondents of the village were surveyed for the same. It includes people working in mining, agriculture and other sectors. Further statistical techniques such as ‘T’ test and ‘Anova’ test have been used for the analysis. Age, gender, education and occupation wise perceptions regarding impact of mining on study region are considered undoubtedly majority of the respondent are not in favor of mining. The analysis reveals that there is no significant difference in their perceptions using education, age, gender and occupations on as parameters to find the impact of mining on livelihood of tribals. Thus, it is proved that the villagers agree that there is negative impact of mining. However, the landuse /Landcover map for the three decades shows significant changes in agricultural patterns and vegetational cover due to mining. Key words: Mining, vegetation, agriculture, socio-economic transformation, livelihood, Tribal 1. Introduction India is a country of diverse populace, the tribal are integral part of this diversity. These Tribal have been living for ages in harmony with nature. However, Development vis- a -vis tribals and their issues in recent times have been point of discussion and debate amongst the academicians, planners and social activists (Narasimha.S and Subbarao.D. V, 2018) The changing perspective in this context of development programmes has impacted the livelihood means of these tribal communities (Gawas V M, 2019). It needs to be re-emphasized that livelihood issues address a wider spectrum of sustainable socio-economic , cultural , political system environment and also vulnerabilities and marginalization issues however, the protest and their movement have been taken into cognizance sporadically (Padhi S. and Panigrahi N,2011), but at times it is a matter of challenge and conflicts . Therefore, the present research, focuses on the issue of mining in a tribal area of Goa.