The issue concerns changing of the legal status of forest land, used to rehabilitate villages from core areas of tiger reserves and other protected areas, to revenue land.
In what could bring relief to thousands of forest-dwellers, a decision pending since 2009 finally seems headed for closure. The issue concerns changing of the legal status of forest land, used to rehabilitate villages from core areas of tiger reserves and other protected areas, to revenue land. DNA has learned that the subject is on the agenda of the meeting of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) today.
If passed, the decision will have significant ramifications for thousands of forest dwelling tribal communities, who are being pushed to relocate outside protected areas without absolute ownership of land.
In 2009, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had, in fact, issued an order allowing state forest departments to convert forest land to revenue land in retrospect. In that order, the MoEF's forestry wing said that many tribal communities were "unable to become absolute owners of the land allocated to them and ongoing developmental works are not implemented."
The 2009 order was based on a Supreme Court order in the case of relocation of three villages from Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary. The order allowed conversion of forest land to revenue land. But, ministry officials argued that a blanket order cannot be issued and thus, the 2009 order fell through. The SC, though, in September 2016, clarified that NBWL could take a decision on the matter.
The rehabilitation issue is huge and slow moving, as tribal communities, fearing being stripped of resources outside forests, are often hesitant to relocate. As per the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, forest dwellers staying in the core and critical tiger habitats can be relocated only voluntarily.
As per official records, of 751 villages inside core tiger habitats, 171 have been relocated, with Maharashtra alone relocating 69 of these. However, the figures indicate only the relocated villages and not the ones moved to forest land.
Forest rights campaigners say that changing the legal status of forest land into revenue land will solve only one part of the problem. "So many villages have been relocated in a haphazard, and in some cases illegal, manner," said Shankar Gopalkrishnan, National Secretary of Campaign for Survival and Dignity, a federation of tribal and forest dwellers' organisations from 11 states.
In the past, villages from tiger reserves have been relocated on land earmarked for community forests or identified for compensatory afforestation, giving rise to conflicts. Many states portray a misleading picture about the total forest land, said Ritwick Dutta, environmental lawyer, Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment. "The change in legal status will also bring to the fore the actual picture about the area under forest cover, he said.
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