Estimating the potential of community forest rights

Estimating the potential of community forest rights

Subject : Environment

Section: Environment law

Context: Even after 16 years, implementation provisions under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, have been far from satisfactory. One of the many reasons for non-implementation is a lack of clarity about where and how much forest land might be eligible for Community Forest Resource Rights (CFRR) claims.

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• There is no “target” that state governments must reach and against which their performance can be measured in terms of recognising CFRR.
• Given the complexity of land and forest settlement in India and the poor quality of land records and maps available, generating an estimate of how much land could come under CFRR and where is not an easy task.
• A crude estimate can be made from village land use data provided in the census’ village amenities tables. This pertains to the forest area within a village’s revenue boundary.
• But an estimate based on data from census tables is likely to be significantly lower than the actual area where communities traditionally exercised community rights, especially in central India.
• This is because the process of forest “settlement” (notification and demarcation) followed in these states resulted in large tracts of forests being demarcated as Reserve Forest (RF) and being kept outside the revenue settlement, thereby not being part of any revenue village and therefore not showing up in the census tables.
• These large RF patches have many settlements inside them, and of course have many more abutting or adjacent to them. Field data shows that residents of these villages (inside and adjacent to the forest area) were using these forests and exercising customary rights over them.

Community Forest Resource rights

• The Community Forest Resource rights under Section 3(1)(i) of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (commonly referred to as the Forest Rights Act or the FRA) provide for recognition of the right to “protect, regenerate or conserve or manage” the community forest resource.
• These rights allow the community to formulate rules for forest useby itself and others and thereby discharge its responsibilities under Section 5 of the FRA.
• CFR rights, along with Community Rights (CRs) under Sections 3(1)(b) and 3(1)(c), which include nistar rights and rights over non-timber forest products, ensure sustainable livelihoods of the community.
• These rights give the authority to the Gram Sabha to adopt local traditional practices of forest conservation and management within the community forest resource boundary.

Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006

• FRA enacted in 2006 recognises the rights of 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.
• It recognizes and vests the forest rights and occupation in Forest land in Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST)and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD) who have been residing in such forests for generations.
• It strengthens the conservation regime of the forests while ensuring the livelihood and food security of the FDST and OTFD.
• The Gram Sabhais the authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of Individual Forest Rights (IFR) or Community Forest Rights (CFR) or both that may be given to FDST and

Rights Under the Forest Rights Act:

• Title rights:
• It gives FDSTand OTFD the right to ownership to land farmed by tribals or forest dwellers subject to a maximum of 4 hectares.
• Ownership is only for land that is actually being cultivated by the concerned family and no new lands will be granted.
• Use rights:
• The rights of the dwellers extend toextracting Minor Forest Produce, grazing areas
• Relief and development rights:
• To rehabilitate in case of illegal eviction or forced displacement and to basic amenities, subject to restrictions for forest protection.
• Forest management rights:
• It includes the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use.