The tragedy of conservation
3 years, 11 months ago

The tragedy of conservation

The Hindu  

In 2012, 39 areas covering national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and reserved forests in the Western Ghats were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Comment | The taproot of conservation justice Against the backdrop of the enactment of the Forest Rights Act of 2006 in India and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People in 2007 by the United Nations, the people residing in the Western Ghats did not anticipate that they would have to deal with the uncertainty about their future following the announcement of the World Heritage Site. In the context of the Forest Rights Act, they are treated as ‘other traditional forest dwellers’ since they have been living there for at least three generations prior to December 13, 2005 and depend on the forest or forest land for their livelihood needs. There appeared to be clear inconsistency in the government’s approach in settling the claims made by the tribals versus the claims made by other traditional forest dwellers. Comment | A bottom-up approach to conservation The wrong approach Assuming that denying tribals or other traditional forest dwellers their rights in the forest would serve the purpose of conservation is far from the truth.

Conservation Karnataka Tribal Claims Forest Western Ghats World Heritage Site Rights Act  tragedy  conservation  traditional  tribal  rights  act  western  ghats  forest  claims  biodiversity

History of this topic

​Canary in the canopy: on the India State of Forest Report 2023
1 day, 6 hours ago

​Canary in the canopy: on the India State of Forest Report 2023

The Hindu  

Through history, forests for humans have been sites of shelter, food, livelihoods, protection, and strength of spirit. According to the new India State of Forest Report 2023, 25% of India’s land is covered by forests or trees, on its face a healthy figure and a step closer to the National Forest Policy’s prescriptions. Post-Independence, India’s forest governance has been typified …

Ahead of Polls, Demand for Forest Rights Emerges as Key Electoral Issue in 153 Lok Sabha Constituencies
8 months, 1 week ago

Ahead of Polls, Demand for Forest Rights Emerges as Key Electoral Issue in 153 Lok Sabha Constituencies

News 18  

When the polling for Lok Sabha starts on April 19, the long-drawn-out land conflicts covering several lakh hectares of forest land — arising out of violations of the Forest Rights Act 2006 — are expected to become a key electoral issue in as many as 153 parliamentary constituencies across states. In some cases, the process has been stuck in the …

Forest Rights recognition major issue in 153 LS constituencies, says analysis
8 months, 1 week ago

Forest Rights recognition major issue in 153 LS constituencies, says analysis

Hindustan Times  

There are around 153 parliamentary constituencies where recognition of individual and community forest rights is among the major issues facing voters, a new analysis has found. Building upon a similar exercise conducted in 2019, independent forest rights researchers released an analysis on Friday which assess the potential of the Forest Rights Act 2006 in advancing the rights of tribal and …

Forest Rights Act implementation mixed in 5 States, shows report
9 months, 1 week ago

Forest Rights Act implementation mixed in 5 States, shows report

The Hindu  

GUWAHATI A fact-finding committee formed by Call for Justice, a Delhi-based organisation, has found “mixed” implementation of the Forest Rights Act of 2006 in five States across the country. The Dima Hasao district authorities told the team that the FRA has not been implemented in the district while “ambiguity” over categories such as hill tribes in plains and plains tribes …

But first, what is a forest? This definition will determine our future
9 months, 4 weeks ago

But first, what is a forest? This definition will determine our future

Hindustan Times  

A buzz has erupted across the country once again over the definition of what constitutes a forest, in light of the recent interim order by a Supreme Court bench presided over by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on February 19, 2024. The amendment removed from the purview of the Forest Act, 1980 all those forests which were not …

Forest rights concerns could influence electoral results in nearly a third of constituencies, says study
10 months, 3 weeks ago

Forest rights concerns could influence electoral results in nearly a third of constituencies, says study

The Hindu  

The electoral outcome in nearly three in ten of India’s Parliamentary constituencies could be influenced by issues surrounding the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, says an analysis by independent researchers. The Forest Rights Act, officially known as the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006, is a piece of legislation that enables tribal communities and forest-dwelling citizens …

Several rules issued in past 2 years to streamline forest clearance: Govt
1 year ago

Several rules issued in past 2 years to streamline forest clearance: Govt

Hindustan Times  

New Delhi: An increase in the number of protected areas, the cheetah translocation project, and India’s commitment to meeting its climate commitments are among the substantive achievements listed by the union environment ministry. A new forest bill, enhanced wetland-protection, an increase in the number of protected areas, the cheetah translocation project, and India’s commitment to meeting its climate commitments -- …

Seventeen years of Forest Rights Act: ATREE brings out resource materials for laypersons
1 year ago

Seventeen years of Forest Rights Act: ATREE brings out resource materials for laypersons

The Hindu  

Earlier this week on December 18, the landmark Forest Rights Act enacted by parliament in 2006 marked its 17th anniversary. On the occasion, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and The Environment, a Bengaluru-based research institution, released a bunch of resources including four videos on FRA, a documentary on the team’s work in Bastar, a webGIS mapping tool and a …

An uphill struggle to grow the Forest Rights Act
1 year ago

An uphill struggle to grow the Forest Rights Act

The Hindu  

December 18, 2023 12:56 am | Updated 10:02 am IST On December 18, 2006, the Rajya Sabha endorsed the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, enacted by the Lok Sabha. This Act, commonly known as the Forest Rights Act, or FRA, marks a watershed in India’s socio-environmental legislation, as it attempts to put an end to the long-drawn …

Community rights and forest conservation | Explained
1 year, 1 month ago

Community rights and forest conservation | Explained

The Hindu  

The story so far: The Forest Conservation Amendment Act of 2023 has received limited attention and little discussion about its impact on forests and its inhabitants. From the colonial forest law in 1865 to the Forest Conservation Amendment Act, 2023, more than fifteen laws, Acts, and policies have been formulated interlinking forests with legal and policy frameworks. It is in …

63 retired IFS officers from across India write to Centre on misuse of Forest Rights Act
1 year, 4 months ago

63 retired IFS officers from across India write to Centre on misuse of Forest Rights Act

The Hindu  

A group of 63 retired IFS officers from different States have written letters to the top brass at the Centre, including the Prime Minister, Union Ministers of the MoEF&CC and Ministry of Tribal Affairs, expressing concern over the alleged misuse of the Forest Rights Act 2006. The IFS officers submitted a list of suggestions to plug loopholes in implementation of …

The hornets’ nests in the Forest Amendment Bill
1 year, 4 months ago

The hornets’ nests in the Forest Amendment Bill

The Hindu  

The Lok Sabha passed the Forest Amendment Bill, 2023, on July 26, with no substantive changes from the original version introduced in March. The problem areas The Forest Conservation Act of 1980, which this Bill aims to amend, admittedly and justifiably adopted a rather protectionist stance which made forest clearances time consuming and costly to obtain. Three points that emerge …

Strike a balance on forest laws
1 year, 4 months ago

Strike a balance on forest laws

Hindustan Times  

What is a forest? Land that was recorded as a forest in any government record, as on or after October 25, 1980 – the day the original forest conservation act came into effect – except where land use was changed from forest to non-forest purpose before December 12, 1996 will also be covered. A report by Vidhi Centre for Legal …

What Forest Conservation Bill Means for Strategic Projects & Will it Ease Land Clearance - News18
1 year, 4 months ago

What Forest Conservation Bill Means for Strategic Projects & Will it Ease Land Clearance - News18

News 18  

Parliament is the temple of democracy and parliamentary procedures the rites by which the will of the people is translated into practice. The legislation exempts certain types of land from the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act like forest land along the international border, a rail line or a public road and to be diverted for strategic projects, amenities and …

Science-wise: Govt’s Proposed Environment Bill, Threat to India’s Natural Forest Cover or Need of the Hour?
1 year, 4 months ago

Science-wise: Govt’s Proposed Environment Bill, Threat to India’s Natural Forest Cover or Need of the Hour?

News 18  

Even as the country grapples with fast-disappearing green cover, a new draft legislation could pave the way for more such diversions of forest land for other activities. In line with that objective, the draft bill may open up the country’s forest land for diversion as it exempts forest land within 100 kms of India’s national borders from the purview of …

A Look At The Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023
1 year, 5 months ago

A Look At The Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023

Live Law  

The Forest Conservation Bill, 2023 will be presented during the Monsoon session of the Parliament which is likely to begin today. The Forest Act, 1980 came into force on 25th October 1980 which was enacted for the conservation of forests by restricting de-reservation of forest and forest land for non-forest purposes. Section 2 and 3 of the act states that …

New forest bill must strike a fine balance
1 year, 5 months ago

New forest bill must strike a fine balance

Hindustan Times  

Among the most important bills likely to be tabled in Parliament in the upcoming monsoon session is the Forest Amendment Bill, 2023. And if the developments in the joint parliamentary committee scrutinising the draft legislation are any clue, then it is likely to be contentious as well. This newspaper reported that the panel is likely to finalise its report on …

Objections overruled, Forest Bill goes to House unchanged
1 year, 5 months ago

Objections overruled, Forest Bill goes to House unchanged

The Hindu  

A Parliamentary committee, set up to examine controversial proposed amendments to the Forest Act, 1980, has endorsed the amendment Bill in its entirety. Touching a raw nerve The proposed amendments to the Forest Act, 1980 have attracted objections on various grounds: ‘Dilution’ of the Supreme Court’s 1996 judgment in the Godavarman case that extended protection to wide tracts of forests, …

New forest laws and ‘development’ push: A prelude to a ‘land grab’ in India’s north-east?
1 year, 6 months ago

New forest laws and ‘development’ push: A prelude to a ‘land grab’ in India’s north-east?

The Hindu  

Published : Jun 02, 2023 16:16 IST - 10 MINS READ The eviction in March of tribal people living in the foothills of Manipur from their traditional forest lands on the grounds that these are “reserve forests” and the conflagration that soon ensued may have more to it than meets the eye. Several factors point to this, including the introduction …

Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 | Jungle book vs rule book
1 year, 6 months ago

Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 | Jungle book vs rule book

The Hindu  

In the preamble to the Forest Amendment Bill, 2023, introduced by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in the Lok Sabha on March 29, it is stated that the importance of forests must be realised to achieve India’s target of Net Zero Emission by 2070 and to maintain or enhance the forest carbon stocks through ecologically balanced sustainable …

Never-ending injustice: Forest Villages of Madhya Pradesh
1 year, 7 months ago

Never-ending injustice: Forest Villages of Madhya Pradesh

Hindustan Times  

Colonial forest policy imposed many injustices on forest-dependent communities in mainland India, including ignoring pre-existing cultivation and taking away people’s rights to access and manage the forest. FVs were villages created and administered by the colonial forest department for this purpose of ‘securing labour’ by settling Adivasi and sometimes non-Adivasi households within specific patches explicitly carved out of the forest. …

A conservation Bill that endangers forest rights
2 years ago

A conservation Bill that endangers forest rights

The Hindu  

The expeditious passage of the Wild Life Amendment Bill, 2021 in the Rajya Sabha this winter session — this followed its passing in the Lok Sabha during the monsoon session — needs comment. The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 has safeguarded numerous species of wild animals and plants by prohibiting all forms of hunting and, more importantly, creating inviolate areas where …

Podu pattas promise puts forest, tribal officials in a quandary
2 years ago

Podu pattas promise puts forest, tribal officials in a quandary

Deccan Chronicle  

HYDERABAD: With a self-imposed deadline of declaring beneficiaries under the pattas for podu land programme of the state government, officials involved with the exercise of vetting lakhs of applications with claims over forest land are learnt to be grappling on how to go about the task. Sources in the government, involved with the current exercise, said enormous pressure was being …

2006: Forest Rights Act
2 years, 4 months ago

2006: Forest Rights Act

The Hindu  

Published : Aug 15, 2022 06:00 IST The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006, commonly called the Forest Rights Act, addressed a long-pending need but also threw up hurdles for forest and wildlife conservation. The Scheduled Tribes and forest dwellers, who are among India’s most marginalised communities, number around 250 million and many of them continue to …

Forest Rights Act: well begun, and now Odisha is ready for the home run
2 years, 4 months ago

Forest Rights Act: well begun, and now Odisha is ready for the home run

The Hindu  

Tucked away in a forested region of Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, Juguni Ho had long nursed a dream of owning a piece of land. Juguni Ho, Jasai Soren and Pramilla Pradhan are among the 2.59 lakh beneficiaries of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which has entered its 16th year of implementation in Odisha. “We are confident about launching Mission 2024 for …

The proposed Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022 might be disastrous for forest dwellers
2 years, 5 months ago

The proposed Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022 might be disastrous for forest dwellers

The Hindu  

Published : Jul 24, 2022 18:00 IST Existing forest laws in India largely put the state in charge of environmental protection, which tends to create an imbalance of power between vulnerable forest-dwelling communities and the authorities. The new rules will allow private developers to clear forest land for compensatory afforestation and development and infrastructure projects without the prior consent of …

Explained: The government's new forest rules and Congress' reservation about them
2 years, 5 months ago

Explained: The government's new forest rules and Congress' reservation about them

Firstpost  

The Congress has alleged that the Centre’s new rules will infringe upon the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which will allow cutting of trees without the consent of forest-dwellers. Senior party leaders alleged that the Narendra Modi government is abdicating its responsibility towards protecting tribal rights and diluting the rules for the “ease of snatching forest land”. If …

Looking beyond the Forest Rights Act
3 years ago

Looking beyond the Forest Rights Act

The Hindu  

The Forest Rights Act has been in existence for 15 years. Further, various welfare and developmental schemes of the Rural Department were not extended everywhere to the tribal people who received documents of land possession under the FRA despite the directives issued by the Ministry to treat them on a par with others. In these places, most Central and State …

How Can Forest Dwelling Populations Protect Their Land Rights?
3 years, 10 months ago

How Can Forest Dwelling Populations Protect Their Land Rights?

The Quint  

Forests, regarded both as safeguards of biodiversity as well as rich reserves of valuable resources, are often subject to unique laws and policies, especially when it comes to forest land. Since the colonial period, India has witnessed a continued conflict between indigenous forest-dwelling populations and large resource extraction drives. In this context, with complex power dynamics at play, how do …

J&K government to implement Forest Rights Act
4 years, 1 month ago

J&K government to implement Forest Rights Act

Hindustan Times  

The Jammu and Kashmir government will implement the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which was not applicable in the union territory for the last 14 years, to grant and safeguard the rights of forest dwellers, an official spokesperson said on Wednesday. “It may be pointed out that the Forest Rights Act of 2006 provides for granting of rights to forest dwellers …

Survey of forest dwellers being done: Jammu and Kashmir govt.
4 years, 1 month ago

Survey of forest dwellers being done: Jammu and Kashmir govt.

The Hindu  

Amid regional parties’ protests over the eviction of forest dwellers, the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday said it was in the process of implementing the Forest Rights Act of 2006 “to grant the rights to forest dwellers”. “The Forest Rights Act of 2006 provides for granting of rights to forest dwellers across the country. The administration has decided that …

#DakshaMasterclass: Forest Rights Legislation [9th Aug]
4 years, 4 months ago

#DakshaMasterclass: Forest Rights Legislation [9th Aug]

Live Law  

On the International Day of Indigenous People, Daksha Fellowship is organizing a session of #DakshaMasterclass on 'Forest Rights Legislation: Stocktaking of Human Rights of Indigenous People in India'. Date: Sunday, 9 August 2020 Time: 5:00 PM IST Indigenous people share a special bond with their land and have a distinctive culture, tradition and knowledge system. The Scheduled Tribes and Other …

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