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Forest Rights and Heritage Conservation

In Context

• Majority of applications of lands claimed under the FRA are either rejected or are still pending.

More about the Forest rights Act (FRA)

• About the act:
  • The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006.
  • It was adopted by Parliament in 2006 to ‘undo the past injustices’ endured by indigenous people.
• Purpose of the Act:
  • Legal recognition:
    • Approving the legal acknowledgment of the rights of the traditional communities that have lived in wooded areas throughout recorded history but have been denied access to basic legal rights because of the harsh restrictions imposed by colonial forest acts.
  • Reducing state control:
    • Additionally, the Act intends to move away from the excessive state control of the forests, which was kept outside of the scope of public dialogue and discussion.
    • This respectably acknowledges tribal identity while democratising it.
  • Local self-governance:
    • The aim is also for empowering and encouraging local self-governance amongst the marginalised tribal communities and forest dwellers.
  • Conservation & developmental activities:
    • Preservation of traditional knowledge and intellectual property rights associated with the biological and cultural diversity of forest inhabitants.
    • The Act also lays out requirements for constructing amenities for village development in and near forested regions.
  • Poverty alleviation:
    • Another important aspect dealt with the Act is the promotion of the vulnerable groups, aiming at alleviating their poverty levels and pro-poor growth.

Issues & Challenges with respect to Forest rights Act (FRA)

• Issues with land measuring:
  • Most of the people who lived in the forest claimed plots of land that were no larger than an acre.
  • It is obvious that the claims fell far short of the maximum four hectares allowed by the Forest Rights Act (FRA).
  • The other traditional forest inhabitants had a rejection rate that was twice as high as that of the STs.
• Failure to provide evidence:
  • The high percentage of claim denial is one of the main factors that make this Act controversial.
  • It was mostly failing to present proof of dependency and living on forest land for 75 years in the few cases of traditional forest residents.
• Severe restrictions:
  • People in the settlements that are located in eco-sensitive zones claim that they have begun to encounter serious limitations on their access to the forest.
  • Road maintenance and other development works have been suspended. Normal farming is prohibited, minor noises are forbidden, fertiliser use is prohibited, and not even a little knife may be taken into the forest.
  • It is forbidden for people to cut down trees that are falling onto their homes in order to do repairs or move earth.
• Animal insurgency:
  • The increasing animal insurgency is causing damage to the crops of the farming forest dwellers.
  • Those who don’t have recognition over their lands are not given compensation for the loss.
• Issues with the tivestock & grazing lands:
  • Owning livestock in the villages close to forests is more challenging than in regular revenue villages.
  • In the areas where irrigation projects have come up, the affected people reported that grazing lands have been taken over by
• Deprived of basic facilities:
  • Most forest dwellers claimed that because they lack the “Records of Rights, Tenancy and Crops” that are necessary along with the ownership of the land, they are still denied access to basic amenities and other government benefits provided under various schemes and programmes.
  • The government is required to address this matter in accordance with the Act’s regulations.
• Issue of relocation in Karnataka:
  • Half the world heritage sites in Karnataka fall under protected areas:
    • National Park: 1
    • Wildlife Sanctuaries: 4 and
    • The remaining are reserved forests.
  • As a result of their affinity to the land and concern over the annihilation of their cultural and religious traditions, the people refuse to “re-locate,” further complicating the situation.
  • To prevent confrontations between government organisations preserving biodiversity and the people who have lived in the forest for decades or centuries, the government must make the Act more clear.

Way Ahead

• Special consideration must be given to biodiversity conservation. However, anyone willing to live in the forest must be let to do so.
• Since they are not dependent on current development needs, many of them adhere to the regulations of the eco-sensitive zone.
• Those who want to benefit from development must also be relocated in accordance with their preferences for a new location and an appropriate package.
• This is only conceivable if the designation of an area as “protected” comes about following talks with the local populace.

About the World Heritage Convention

• The convention:
  • The World Heritage Convention, formally the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, is an international treaty signed on 23 November 1972, which created the World Heritage Sites,
  • Goal:
    • It has the primary goals of nature conservation and the preservation of cultural properties.
  • Protected areas in India:
    • 39 areas declared by UNESCO in 2012 as being critical for biodiversity in the Western Ghats
    • Seeking local opinion in the Process of recognition:
      • Before recognizing areas as world heritage sites, UNESCO seeks the opinion of the inhabitants on the implication of the possible declaration on their lives and livelihoods.
    • Outcomes:
      • Presenting the declaration of the world heritage site in a positive light, many locals have noted that illegal tree-felling and poaching have come down following the stringent implementation of rules in the ‘protected areas’.

Significance of Western Ghats

• Hottest hot spot:
  • Older than the Himalaya, the Western Ghats mountain chain is recognised as one of the world’s eight “hottest hot spots” of biological diversity.
• Ecosystem:
  • The Western Ghats forests include some of the best representatives of non-equatorial tropical evergreen forests anywhere.

They are home to at least 325 globally threatened flora, fauna, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish species.