Parliamentarians forming the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests have suggested that one of the best ways of halting depletion of valuable forest cover in the country was to make tribals protectors of forests.Participating in the first meeting of the committee since the BJP and allies came to power, the members felt that the tribals should be provided with some land where they could cultivate their preferred crops. This was necessary to reduce the practice of shifting cultivation.