Around 190 million people in 30 million hectares of forest area remain unrecognised 10 years after the landmark Forest Rights Law was passed with the aim of protecting indigenous inhabitants, a report by a group of NGOs today claimed.
"Less than five per cent of the potential for rights recognition of over 200 million tribals and other traditional forest dwellers has been achieved under the legislation. Around 190 million people in 30 million hectares of forest area remain unrecognised," the report released on the 10th anniversary of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 said.
It presented an analysis of the implementation of the FRA and said the law has potential to recognise the rights of over 200 million people living in over 170,000 villages.
The minimum estimated area over which Community Forest Resource (CFR) rights can be recognised through the FRA is 34.6 million hectares, it said.
"The FRA was passed 10 years ago by Parliament to address injustices perpetrated against millions of forest dwellers in India... It has the potential to conserve forests and biodiversity, improve local livelihoods, and help meet India's international commitments to sustainable development and climate change mitigation.
"Unfortunately due to a lack of political will and intentional efforts to undermine the law, this vast potential for democratic forest governance remains unrealised," the report quoted Neema Pathak Broome, a researcher with Kalpavriksh, as saying.
The FRA is an "opportune legal" instrument for India to meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change as well as address a number of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it said.
"Following the Paris Agreement, India has set an ambitious target to sequester 2.5 billion additional tonnes of carbon. India can realise these goals by integrating effective FRA implementation, through the recognition of community forest resource rights, into its climate change policy.
"By empowering over 170,000 villages to protect, manage, and conserve their forests, India will be able to create a new discourse for climate change mitigation and build climate resiliency for the country," it quoted Tushar Dash, Lead Campaigner at Odisha-based NGO Vasundhara, as saying.
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