NEW DELHI: Recognition of rights to use community forests under the Forest Rights Act enabled forest-dependent communities to address the loss of livelihood opportunities that emerged amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown in the country, showed a report 'Community Forest Rights and the Pandemic: Gram Sabhas Lead The Way.'
The report was produced by a team of independent researchers of advocacy group Community Forest Rights -- Learning and Advocacy, and Vikalp Sangam initiative -- a platform which focusses on environmental issues.
The study documented case studies from Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, and Odisha.
Tribal communities have been severely impacted by the pandemic and have been marginalised further with large-scale loss of livelihood options.
The report pointed out Adivasi and other traditional forest dwelling (OTFD) communities coped better with the crisis where their land and forest rights were recognised.
The role of gram sabhas proved to be crucial when they were been empowered under the legislations of The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (FRA) and Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act 1996 (PESA).
In cases where the provisions of the legislations were diligently implemented, the recognition of rights led to overcoming constraints and crisis, it showed.
Securing tenure, recognising individual and collective rights, and support for Adivasi and OTFDs towards effective management, restoration and conservation of their customary forests, and autonomy of gram sabhas could reduce the need for distress out-migration as it could create ample livelihood opportunities, the report said.
Ownership rights over minor forest produce such as mahua, bamboo, tendu leaves created sustainable economies for the communities.
Around 100 million forest dwellers depend on MFP for food, shelter, medicines and having cash with them, according to the Centre. They derive 20-40 per cent of their annual income from MFP.
The case studies showed examples of gram sabhas coming to the aid of the most vulnerable among the forest communities like women and children, landless families, pastoralists, particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) through collective resources generated from community forests.
Convergence of FRA and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and scaling up efforts for employment generation from individual forest rights and community forest rights can be an effective strategy to boost local economy in tribal areas, the report suggested.