THE GOVERNMENT’S latest policy addressing the problem of overlapping rights on forested land will be a major turning point for residents, as it will allow them to live in forested areas and sustain themselves legally and also bring a halt to further encroachment, officials said yesterday.

However, civil groups, including those at a recent forest governance forum, pointed out that many forest residents were still uncertain if the new policy will maintain their land rights. 

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In January 2016, a decade after the Forest Rights Act (FRA) was passed by Parliament, 60 gram sabhas in Khutgaon, Gadchiroli, became the first forest-dwelling people in Maharashtra to file a claim for habitat rights. These people are part of a community called Madia Gond, classified as a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG). Almost three years since their claims were submitted, since also approved by the authorised body, they are yet to receive their legal titles.

It has been six decades since communities in the Malenadu region were uprooted in the name of progress and development. They are still fighting for basic amenities in the villages where they have been resettled.

It was in 1905 when renowned engineer Sir M. Vishveshwaraya saw the roaring torrents of Jog, the second highest plunge waterfalls in India, and exclaimed: “What a waste!” It was his visionary imagination which first seeded the idea of harnessing hydel power from River Sharavathi, considered a lifeline by many in the Malenadu region of Karnataka.  

NEW DELHI: Over 70 per cent of compensatory afforestation across 10 states has been done on forest land instead of non-forest land in violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act. This was done on community forest land without the consent of gram sabhas, said an analysis released on Tuesday.

Across the globe, grassroots organizations are combatting injustice by helping people to understand, use, and shape the laws that affect them. Few of them receive the recognition they deserve. We want to change that. 

In 2015, Namati launched the world’s first competition to celebrate great deeds in the field of legal empowerment. This year, the biennial Grassroots Justice Prize returns -- bigger and better than before. 

RIO DE JANEIRO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Local officials in Brazil said on Friday they asked the government to offer property deeds to thousands of people living without formal titles in the Amazon rainforest who advocates say are at risk of losing their rights to live on the land.

The request by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office in Para state would affect an area of 2,500 square kilometers (965 square miles), part of a region called Marajó Archipelago that is owned by the federal government.

Land governance disputes dominate civil and criminal cases in India

Forest dweller Utpal Nokrek, who is now at 32, has been restricted to a wheelchair for 13 years.

It was 3 January 2004 when Utpal was shot during clashes between the forest dwellers and police over acquisition of thousands of acres of forest land by the government in the name of an eco-park at Tangail's Madhupur forest.

"As the forest dwellers of Garo and Koch communities protested the eco-park project, rangers and police opened fire. I was shot during the clashes," Utpal said.

Worried by the high rate of deforestation in the state and its negative consequences, some communities in Cross River State have called for the adoption of forest governance as a way to tackle the menace.

Dynamic thematic portfolios combine detailed narratives with Linked Open Data to provide comprehensive global overview

GRONINGEN (11 November, 2016) — Forest tenure, gender and land rights, and indigenous and community land rights are all key thematic areas related to land governance. For this reason, the Land Portal is launching the first three comprehensive thematic portfolios focused on these issues.

Land & Gender

By: Rina Chandran

Date: October 4th 2016

Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation

MUMBAI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Indian officials have been slow to implement a landmark law giving rights to forests to indigenous people because they view it as a handicap to development projects spurring expansion in the fast-growing economy, a land rights campaigner said.