In recent news, the residents of four villages in Chhattisgarh’s Mungeli district have received Community Forest Resource Rights (CFRR). Following Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve in Dhamtari district, Achanakmar has become the second tiger reserve in Chhattisgarh to gain CFRR.
Understanding Community Forest Resources
A Community Forest Resource (CFR) area is commonly defined as a forest land that has been traditionally safeguarded and conserved by a specific community for sustainable use. The community utilizes it to access resources within the traditional and customary boundary of their village. This can also include seasonal landscape use in case of pastoralist communities. Each CFR area possesses a customary boundary with identifiable landmarks acknowledged by the community and neighboring villages. Various types of forests can fall under this category, inclusive of revenue forest, classified & unclassified forest, deemed forest, DLC (District Level Committee) land, reserve forest, protected forest, sanctuary, and national parks.
Digging into Community Forest Resource Rights
The Community Forest Resource rights, as per Section 3(1)(i) of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, recognize the right to “protect, regenerate or conserve or manage” the community forest resource. Such rights enable the community to create rules for forest use by itself and others, ensuring the discharge of responsibilities under Section 5 of the FRA. Alongside Community Rights (CRs) under Sections 3(1)(b) and 3(1)(c), which include nistar rights and rights over non-timber forest products, these rights ensure the sustainable livelihoods of the community.
Once CFRR is recognized for a community, the ownership of the forest passes from the forest department to the hands of the Gram Sabha. This authoritative body then takes charge of the forests, allowing the Gram Sabha to adopt local traditional practices of forest conservation and management within the community forest resource boundary.
Chhattisgarh is just the second state to have recognized CFR rights inside a national park, namely Kanger Ghati National Park. The Odisha government was the first to recognize Community Forest Resources (CFRs) inside the Simlipal National Park in 2016.
Significance of CFRs
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, known as the Forest Rights Act (FRA), aims to right the “historic injustice” faced by forest-dependent communities due to curtailment of their customary rights over forests. This act, enacted in 2008, plays a critical role as it acknowledges the community’s right to use, manage, and conserve forest resources, and to legally possess forest land used for cultivation and residence.
It highlights the integral part forest dwellers play in maintaining forest sustainability and biodiversity conservation. The act holds greater significance within protected forests like national parks, sanctuaries, and tiger reserves, where traditional dwellers become part of the management of protected forests using their traditional wisdom.
Examining the Nodal Agency’s Role
In regards to the UPSC Civil Services Examination, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs serves as the nodal agency at the national level, ensuring the effective implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. This act recognizes the rights of forest-dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers to forest resources, contributing towards protecting the tribal population from eviction without rehabilitation and settlement.
Through the act and its rules, various schemes and projects are implemented under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, reinforcing the community rights to self-cultivation and habitation, grazing, fishing, and access to water bodies in forests, along with habitat rights for PVTGs.
