Answer

Introduction

The withdrawal of the Chhattisgarh Forest Department’s notification, which tried to make itself the nodal agency for implementing CFRR under the FRA, 2006, highlights the tension between centralised forest control and community-led governance. Despite over 10,000 CFRR titles issued, fewer than 1,000 gram sabhas have been able to operationalise forest management plans, underscoring the structural challenges in forest governance.

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Key Challenges in Forest Governance

• Bureaucratic Overreach Violating FRA: The Forest Rights Act empowers gram sabhas to manage community forests, but state forest departments continue to assert control.
  Eg: The Chhattisgarh Forest Department attempted to assume nodal authority, against FRA provisions.
• Imposition of Uniform Planning Templates: Gram sabhas are being forced to adopt centrally approved formats like MoTA’s model plans, undermining decentralised planning.
  Eg: The forest department insisted on National Working Plan Code (NWPC) plans, despite FRA not requiring it.
• Withholding Institutional and Financial Support: Lack of access to funds and institutional backing prevents gram sabhas from implementing CFRR effectively.
• Policy Inconsistency and Mixed Signals from MoTA: Shifting government positions have led to confusion about CFRR implementation norms.
  Eg: MoTA’s 2015 support for flexible formats was contradicted by its 2024 joint letter requiring NWPC compliance.
• Exclusion of NGOs and Technical Experts: Forest departments have restricted collaborations with civil society, weakening local capacity and innovation.
  Eg: Chhattisgarh directive barred NGOs from assisting gram sabhas in CFR planning.
  

Measures to Strengthen Community-Led Forest Management

• Legally Reinforce Gram Sabha Autonomy: Reaffirm gram sabhas as the sole authority over CFRR under FRA, ending state-level overreach.
• Develop Flexible and Evolving Planning Tools: Promote community-owned frameworks like Dharti Aaba Abhiyan that evolve through local learning and iteration.
• Ensure Financial and Technical Support from Forest Departments: Departments should facilitate, not obstruct, gram sabhas through resource allocation and training.
• Encourage Civil Society Collaboration: Create space for NGOs and academic institutions to provide capacity building and ecological expertise.
• Institutionalise Community Monitoring Mechanisms: Support gram sabha-led tracking of forest health, using traditional knowledge and adaptive methods.
• Align Forest Goals with Local Livelihood Needs: Shift forest science away from commercial yield towards multi-functional forest use rooted in ecosystem values and local needs.
  

Conclusion

The path to sustainable and just forest governance lies in empowering gram sabhas, not in reviving outdated colonial models. By dismantling bureaucratic hurdles, supporting decentralised planning, and embracing ecological knowledge at the grassroots, India can unlock the full transformative potential of the Forest Rights Act.

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