What are Community Forest Resource Rights and why are they significant?
Not many of us know that national parks, wildlife reserves and sanctuaries are often developed in areas that are otherwise suitable for human habitation. In fact, as it happens, tribal people, dependent on forest resources for their livelihoods, are removed from their native lands and shifted to other places in order to build homes for animals. In order to address this problem, the Forest Department of India has come up with something called Community Forest Resource (CFR) Rights.
It was first adopted by Simlipal National Park in Odisha, and very recently by Kanger Ghati National Park in Chattisgarh, where a village can now exist inside the premises of a national park. According to the CFR Rights, tribes native to the Gudiyapadar region can now reside in a hamlet inside the national park and can even formulate their own community-based rules for sustainable forest use. Here’s what Community Forest Resource Rights is all about.
What is Community Forest Resource?
Before discussing what Community Forest Resources Rights mean, let us first understand what Community Forest Resource is. It refers to the forest resource that is found in a common forest land and protected and conserved by the community of people living there. This resource is used sustainably by these people and traditionally falls under the boundary of their village. This boundary usually has identifiable landmarks recognised by both the native communities and the neighbouring ones. Community Forest Resource can be found in any forest category, such as classified and unclassified forest, wildlife reserves, sanctuaries as well as national parks.
Community Forest Resource Rights?
Community Forest Resource Rights is part of the Forest Rights Act (also known as FRA in short) that came into force in 2008. It was undertaken by the Forest Department of India to revoke the unjust practices which the forest-dependent communities were exposed to for generations. Here, the primary aim was to once again bring back the customary rights that the forest dwellers were entitled to.
For those of you who are interested to know the legality of it all, CFR Rights fall under Section 3 (1) (i) of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act. It refers to the rights of the community to “protect, regenerate, conserve and manage” the forest resources surrounding them.
According to these rights, the forest community can make their own rules regarding their own forest usage and its external access. They are also provided with the responsibilities of taking care of these forest resources under Section 5 of FRA. Above all, these rights ensure sustainable livelihoods of the forest dependent communities.
Significance of Community Forest Resources Rights
Now that you have understood what CFR and CFR Rights mean, let us focus on why these rights are important. Well, the answer is, they emphasise on the forest community’s right to use. manage and conserve forest resources. These rights also ensure that these forest-based communities can legally claim forest land and regard them for both their livelihoods as well as habitation. The rights are further significant as they underline the integral role that these forest dwellers play in the sustainable maintenance of forests and their resources. Thanks to the Community Forest Resources Rights, these communities now feel empowered and can directly contribute in managing the protected forest areas, such as wildlife reserves and national parks. In fact, they can even use their traditional wisdom and knowledge of the areas to conserve the biodiversity. What’s more, these rights also enable the Gram Sabha (primary body of the Panchayat system, or the village council) to collaborate with the forest communities and adopt local and traditional practices of forest conservation and management.