Seventeen years of Forest Rights Act: ATREE brings out resource materials for laypersons Premium

On the occasion, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and The Environment (ATREE), a Bengaluru-based research institution, released a bunch of resources including four videos on FRA, a documentary on the team’s work in Bastar, a webGIS mapping tool and a template for community forest rights management plan prepared in collaboration with TISS Mumbai.  The initiative is under ATREE’s Forests, Governance and Livelihoods Programme. 

Earlier this week on October 18, the landmark Forest Rights Act (FRA) enacted by parliament in 2006 marked its 17 anniversary. 

On the occasion, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and The Environment (ATREE), a Bengaluru-based research institution, released a bunch of resources including four videos on FRA, a documentary on the team’s work in Bastar, a webGIS mapping tool and a template for community forest rights management plan prepared in collaboration with TISS Mumbai.  The initiative is under ATREE’s Forests, Governance and Livelihoods Programme. 

The resources draw upon the institution’s work in Central India. An ATREE team comprising Adivasi youth has been working in states including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Eastern Maharashtra and Telangana for the last five years to help forest villages in these states secure their community forest resource rights (CFRR). 

“The four videos are meant to explain to the layperson the essence of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), why it was introduced and what it tries to do. Made in simple language, they target the Hindi heartland,” says Sharachchandra Lele, senior fellow at ATREE. Mr. Lele has been leading ATREE’s ‘CFR in Central India initiative.’ 

He notes that many people, including urban dwellers, don’t understand the purpose of FRA which seeks to rectify the historical injustices committed to forest communities since the time of British colonial rule. The prevalent notion is that the Act is a political gimmick to legalise encroachments of forest land. 

FRA recognises the forest dweller’s rights over their land and the community’s rights to manage and conserve the forest. Community Forest Resources Rights and Individual Forest Rights form two integral parts of FRA. 

The Community Forest Resources (CFR) Rights recognise the rights of the community over the forest land within village boundaries and allows to collect minor forest produce, use grazing lands and water resources, and protect and regenerate any community resource.