<
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/dec/17/india-adivasi-tribal-village-pachgaon-forest-law-traditional-rights>
"It’s late morning and the sound of axes clacking against wood echoes through
Pachgaon’s bamboo forest in the central Indian state of Maharashtra. A huge
depot, larger than a cricket stadium, is full of bamboo branches, stacked
neatly by size in different sections. Nearby is a small, windowless office
painted in the colours of the forest – a record-keeper of Pachgaon’s turnaround
from abject poverty to relative wealth in just over a decade.
Pachgaon’s rags-to-riches story follows the implementation of two longstanding
Indian laws that restored to the local adivasi (tribal) community its
traditional ownership rights over the forest, which they lost to rulers and
colonisers several generations ago.
Under the laws – the Forest Rights Act 2006, and the Panchayat (Extension to
Scheduled Areas) Act 1996 – tribal village councils, or
panchayats, can apply
for “community forest rights papers”, or title deeds to designated forest
resources, and constitute their own
gram sabhas (village assemblies) to take
decisions on governance and the marketing of the fruit, seeds, herbs and trees
that they harvest and cut in the forest.
When the laws came into force, they were hailed as progressive legislation that
would correct the historical injustices that tribal communities had suffered
for years. But poor awareness on the part of forest dwellers, and reluctance on
the part of the state to hand over complete control, meant they were rarely
enacted.
However, Pachgaon’s residents pursued their entitlement with dogged
persistence, and were granted papers confirming their community forest rights
in 2012, winning control of 1,006 hectares (2,486 acres) of forest land – with
stunning results. The village’s bamboo business made a profit of 3.7m rupees
(£35,000) in the last financial year and a total of 34m rupees in the past
decade.
“Earlier, the forest was with the forest department, but now it is with us. We
have formulated 115 rules on how to expand it, nurture it and protect it,” says
Sanjay Gajanan Gopanwar, a
gram sabha member."
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-hospital-like-a-spa/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
