FOREST RIGHTS ACT OF INDIA

ISSUES AND CONCERNS IN THECONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE &

REDD

Tushar DashVASUNDHARA

Asia Dialogue on Community Forestry and Property Rights in the context of climate change

Kathmandu, 11-12 August 2010

OUTLINE

Forest rights act (rights and empowered institutions, opportunity)

Issues in the context of climate change and REDD

OPPORTUNITY UNDER FOREST RIGHTS ACT

Bundle of rights recognized under the Act include, Diversity of livelihood system Diversity of community conservation practices Traditional knowledge

It provides empowered authorities to the communities/institutions to protect, conserve and manage forest and biodiversity

It has created political space for marginal communities to engage and influence forest governance

Rights on minor forest produce

RIGHTS OVER HABITAT AND SACRED FORESTS(DONGRIAS IN NIYAMGIRI)

The Area has not seen drought in last 100 years (SCSTRTI)

TRADITIONAL RESOURCE ACCESS OF NOMADIC TRIBES(MANKIRDIAS IN MAYURBHANJ , ODISHA

RIGHTS OF PASTORALIST COMMUNITIES

RIGHTS TO COMMUNITY FORESTRY GROUPSORISSA, MAHARASHTRA

FISHING AND RIGHTS OVER WATER BODIESCHENCHUS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

OTHER RIGHTS & EMPOWEREDAUTHORITIES

Community rights to shifting cultivators Rights to communities living in protected areas Empowered authorities to protect and manage

forests Communities have started asserting rights and

authorities to, Assert traditional management Resist mining and industry Illegal logging Quarrying and crushing activities Biofuel and commercial plantations

ISSUES & CONCERNS

Forest Rights Act is yet to reach to a majority of forest communities (Only 9.10 lakhs individual and 1283 community rights are recognized so far. Compared with the 275 million forest dependents in India and 1,70,739 forest fringe villages, the figures are not encouraging )

Recognition and exercise of forest rights is constrained by governance, laws, policies, structures and institutions around forest which have not changed

Continuance of forestry regime and plans under Indian Forest Act, Wildlife Protection Act, Joint Forest Management has clashed with the forest rights

Plantation and forestry intervention under CAMPA, JBIC have taken place in the community lands claimed under FRA

Climate change mitigation measures particularly the draft Green India Mission (which is developed on the REDD pattern) has proposed legal back up to and strengthening of JFM/FDA structures which is going to further create conflicts around community forest rights and recentralize

Plan is afoot to evict 48,000 families from the tiger reserves of India for creating inviolate conservation area

REDD AND RIGHTSRECOMMENDATION

FRA (and similar laws in other countries) has given an historic opportunity to reconstruct rights and common property regimes and redefine forest governance.

It is therefore necessary at this stage to counter implementation of REDD to pre-empt possibilities of centralization, loss of rights, disempowerment of community forestry groups, alienation and conflicts

Climate Change is not just REDD and there can be more effective adaptation measures if we innovatively work on the opportunity created by laws like FRA and PESA for recognition of diversity

THANKS

VASUNDHARAPlot No. A/70

Sahid Nagar, Bhubaneswar, Odishawww.vasundharaorissa.org, www.cci.org, www.fra.org.in

tushardash01@gmail.com