The passing of the Forest Rights Act was preceded by an acrimonious debate. The denouement saw the conservationists and protagonists of tribal rights taking diametrically opposite views and trading charges, much to the bewilderment of the common man.

The conservationists forecast doomsday for the wildlife while the activists harped on setting right the historical injustice done to the tribal people. The Act is a fait accompli and the prudent course now for conservationists is to work with it to espouse the cause of wildlife.

To say the Act is for the tribal and other traditional forest dwellers alone and turns a blind eye towards wildlife conservation is a fallacy.

While espousing the tribal cause, the Act very well lays emphasis on wildlife conservation. The Act very specifically says the right holders have the fundamental duty to protect and conserve biodiversity. The flip side is that some of the provisions in the Act are likely to be misused by manipulators with political clout.

Missing the wood

A majority of the conservationists are harping on the "Critical Wildlife habitat” proviso of the Act and hold on to the view that this is the only saving grace. But for some reason they cling to the view that the proviso is applicable to only the existing Protected Areas (PAs). This is missing the wood for the trees.

While the Act lays emphasis on critical wildlife habitat in extant national parks and sanctuaries, it does not prevent the identification of new critical wildlife habitats and to the creation of new sanctuaries and national parks.

Even the recent conclave of conservationists in Bangalore failed to tack on to this opportunity and took a blinkered view of the proviso.

Inherent paradox

A scientific proof about the critical nature of the area and relocation with proper compensation is the quid pro quo stipulated. But utmost care has to be exercised in the attendant relocation and funding for developmental activities.

The paper “Accelerated Human Population Growth at Protected Area Edges” by George Wittemyer et al published in Science magazine, l VOL 321 4 JULY 2008, is a pointer to the looming threat to PA effectiveness and biodiversity conservation by pumping in funds indiscriminately.

Wittemyer after analysing 306 PAs in 45 countries in Africa and Latin America points out that humans are drawn to PAs for the economic opportunities they provide brought in by international and local funding, but ironically this exacerbates the same anthropogenic threats to biodiversity it aims to alleviate.

Co-operative effort

The tribal rights had indeed taken a back seat in our pursuit of development strategies in the past. Conversion of forest land for non-forestry land use and encroachments directly impinged on the livelihood options of dependent communities.

The powerful section of the mainstream society who orchestrated the operations conveniently passed the buck to the forest department.

The forest department might have committed some faux pas while dealing with the tribal communities in the past, but it is patently unjust to depict them as historical injustices done by the department.

Past injustices towards the tribal cause have become the mantra for gaining political mileage.

The murky role of the politicians in regularising encroachments cannot be wished away. The time has come to stop recriminations and cement an alliance of the forest department, dependent communities, conservationists and social scientists.

At a turning point

Gram sabhas have been given a pivotal role in the scheme of things but they are totally ill-equipped to handle the affairs concerning nature conservation. It is here that the conservationists can chip in to strengthen the gram sabha machinery so that the whole process evolves into a genuine people’s movement. We are at a turning point.

With proper planning the present imbroglio can be converted to an opportunity that ushers in new dimensions of management that takes care of the genuine needs of the tribal people, forest-dwellers and wildlife.

http://www.hindu.com/op/2008/09/07/stories/2008090750011400.htm

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