A tribe in the Western Ghats in need of a lifeline

Subject: Geography

Section: Human Geography

Context:

The Makuta village houses a Girijan colony inhabited by the ‘Phani Yerava’ tribe. In 2021, with local assistance, all 19 Yerava households successfully claimed forest land rights under the Forest Rights Act, covering 135 acres historically occupied by their ancestors.

Details:

The Makuta village is in the Western Ghats’ Kodagu district, Karnataka, part of the Talacauvery sub-cluster and is one of the 10 World Heritage Sites in Karnataka. This area is known for its dense tropical evergreen forests.
The findings are part of a larger research study titled “Tribals, Forest Rights and Heritage Conservation: A Study of Western Ghats in Karnataka,” sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi.
The study suggests a need for targeted policies to support tribal communities facing socio-economic hardships and addiction problems, advocating for a holistic approach to improving their quality of life.

Key findings:

Despite obtaining forest rights, the tribe’s enthusiasm is dampened by the diminishing returns and increasing hardships of forest-dependent livelihoods.
The tribal community now primarily engages in daily labour, often travelling to nearby Kasaragod, Kerala, for work due to better wages and language comfort.
While still collecting minor forest produce like fuelwood, honey, dhoopa (incense), and shekakai (soap pod), most of it is for personal consumption without stockpiling, indicating a shift away from the traditional forest-based economy.

About Forest Rights Act, 2006:

The Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 recognizes the rights of the forest-dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers to forest resources, on which these communities were dependent for a variety of needs, including livelihood, habitation and other socio-cultural needs.

Objectives:

To undo the historical injustice that occurred to the forest-dwelling communities.
To ensure land tenure, livelihood and food security of the forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers.
To strengthen the conservation regime of the forests by including the responsibilities and authority of Forest Rights holders for sustainable use, conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological balance.

What Rights Do Forest Dwellers Get Under the Act?

The Act gives the forest dwellers the right to ownership land farmed by them, subject to a maximum of 4 hectares per family.
Ownership is only for land that is actually being cultivated by the concerned family and no new lands can be granted.
The land cannot be sold or transferred to anyone except by inheritance.

The rights of the dwellers extend to extracting Minor Forest Produce (such as tendu patta, herbs, medicinal plants etc.), grazing areas, to pastoralist routes, etc.
Minor forest produce does not include timber.

The Act gives the forest-dwelling communities the right to protect and manage the forest.
This is vital for the thousands of village communities protecting their forests and wildlife against threats from forest mafias, industries and land grabbers.

Who Can Claim These Rights?

Members or community of the Scheduled Tribes who primarily reside in and who depend on the forests or forest lands for bonafide livelihood needs.
It can also be claimed by any member or community who has for at least three generations (75 years) before 13th December 2005 primarily resided in forest land for bona fide livelihood needs.

How Are These Rights Recognised?

Section 6 of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 provides a transparent three-step procedure for deciding on who gets rights:
Step-1: Gram Sabha makes a recommendation – i.e. who has been cultivating land for how long, which minor forest produce to be collected, etc.
Step-2: The Gram Sabha’s recommendation goes through two stages of screening committees at the Taluka and District levels.
Step-3: The District Level Committee makes the final decision. The committees have six members – three government officers and three elected persons.

Source: TH