Forest Governance needs better Community Involvement

Community participation in ensuring better forest governance by effective management of natural resources not only plays a vital role in forest management but also helps in conserving our natural resources also. The forest conservation in India by the local communities in the past is the classic example of community participation in resource conservation.  The forest dwelling tribal communities or other traditional forest dwellers (OTFDs) used to protect the forest for their own survival.

The intervention of the state in forest governance in British India and post 1947 as well led to exclusion of the forest dwelling communities especially when the British Govt began laying rail lines and construction of roadways through forest areas.  The Govt extended its control over the forest and the resources in the name of forest conservation but that hasn’t helped the local communities at all which is otherwise mandatory as per constitution of India ( Welfare State).

The Indian Forest Act of 1865 was the first legal framework which systematically introduced State’s control over the forests in India. This law was amended in 1878 and after some decades the Indian Forest Act of 1927 was enacted repealing the previous laws. The Indian Forest Act 1927 is still applicable in India and it was extended to Jammu & Kashmir as well with effect from Oct 31^st 2019 soon after article 370 of constitution was read down by Indian parliament on August 5^th 2019.  Prior to Oct 31^st 2019 J&K was governed by the Jammu & Kashmir Forest Act 1930 (Samvat 1987). This law was repealed post article 370 abrogation.

UNFI & Indigenous communities

The United Nations Forum on Forests -UNFF while respecting the role of indigenous communities in sustainable forest management adopted the United Nations Forest Instrument (UNFI) in May 2007 . The  UN General Assembly-UNGA also adopted this in December 2007. The UNFI  provides countries with a framework for promoting sustainable forest management (SFM). It recognizes sustainable forest management as a dynamic and evolving concept, which aims to maintain and enhance the economic, social and environmental values of all types of forests, for the benefit of present and future generations. The purpose of the Forest Instrument is to strengthen political commitment and action at all levels to implement the sustainable management of all types of forests effectively. The UNFI calls upon states to involve local communities, forest owners and other relevant stakeholders seeking their contribution in achieving sustainable forest management. It adds that they should be involved in a transparent and participatory way in forest decision-making processes that affect them, as well as in implementing sustainable forest management, in accordance with national legislations like Forest Rights Act- FRA.

FRA 2006

It took the Govt of India at least 60 years to enact a legislation that granted forest dwelling scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers the rights that existed before the British Rule. The Congress led UPA Govt came up with Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 also called Forest Rights Act -FRA in 2006. This law was enacted on 18 December 2006 and is also known as Tribal Rights Act , Tribal Land Act.

After 1 year the law was notified in the Govt gazette and on Jan1st 2008. This law was extended to J&K post article 370 abrogation and this author has extensively written on this legislation during the last 4 years.

The aim of writing this piece is to do further advocacy on FRA which will ensure better forest governance.

Land allocation under FRA I  J&K

A 2023 report submitted by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs Govt of India before the parliament is shocking. It reveals that the quantum of land allocated to scheduled tribes – STs or Other Traditional Forest Dwellers- OTFDs in J&K under FRA isn’t available at all ? Rajya Sabha MPs Dr Syed Naseer Hussain and Dr Amee Yajnik in February 2023 sought written response from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs on the implementation of Forest Rights Act 2006. The MPs sought a response about the number of Individual Forest Rights (IFR) and Community Forest Rights (CFR) claims rejected by the concerned administration in different states and UT’s. In addition, the MPs also sought the number of IFR and CFR claims rejected under the FRA, particularly for Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) along with the general grounds on which these applications/claims were rejected? These MPs also sought information about the number of land allocation / rights granted under FRA to forest dwellers in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the financial year 2021-2022?

The Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Govt of India Mr Bishweswar Tudu while replying the MPs on the floor of the Rajya Sabha said:

“As per information submitted by States Governments up to the month of November, 2022 42,97,245 IFR and 1,69,372 CFR claims were received in all the states and UTs except Jammu & Kashmir. Out of these 16,88,496 IFR claims & 41,376 CFR claims were rejected. In total 22,49,671 claims were accepted which include 21,46,782 IFR & 1,02,889 CFR claims.”

While responding to a question on FRA implementation in J&K , the Minister of State for Tribal Affairs said that this was being implemented at different stages as the FRA has been made applicable in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir with effect from 2021.

Conclusion

For the last 15 years the Forest Rights Act (FRA) has been in operation in India  but a majority of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) of the country are yet to receive entitlement under this pro-people  legislation. Even in non BJP states which claim to be more inclined towards tribals the FRA implementation is very unsatisfactory especially in states like Bihar , West Bengal or even Himachal Pradesh. Gujarat , MP and Rajasthan are also nor doing well vis a vis FRA implementation.  This law will not only ensure tribals and other traditional forest dwellers will get their legitimate rights but the FRA will also strengthen the forest governance and ensure sustainable forest management by involving local communities. The community involvement in forest governance is a must because the forests cannot grow in isolation, so is true in case of its management as well.  It is therefore important that an effective local management of forests is  made and local communities are given the ownership of the forests under community forest rights-CFA and community forest resource rights-CFFR as mandated under the Forest Rights Act 2006. This will not only help local communities to overcome climate crisis through various afforestation programmes but will also better compliance of the Forest Rights Act- FRA as well.