It provides for the restitution of deprived forest rights across
including:
- Individual rights to cultivated land in
forest land.
- Community rights over common property
resources.
- Community forest 'resource' rights,
giving gram sabhas the power to protect and manage their forest.
Significance: provides scope and historic
opportunity of integrating conservation and livelihood rights of the people.
Aim:
- To empower and strengthen the local
self-governance.
- To address the livelihood security.
- Conservation and management of the
Natural Resources and conservation governance of India.
Forest Rights Act recognizes:
- Community Rights in addition to their
individual rights.
- Right to protect, regenerate or conserve
or manage any community forest resource.
- Right to intellectual property and
traditional knowledge related to biodiversity and cultural diversity.
- Rights of displaced communities &
Rights over developmental activities.
Salient features:
- Nodal
Agency for the implementation is Ministry of Tribal Affairs
(MoTA).
- This Act
is applicable for Tribal and Other Traditional Forest Dwelling
Communities.
- The Act
provides for recognition of forest rights of other traditional forest
dwellers provided they have for at least three generations prior to
13.12.2005 primarily resided in and have depended on the forests for
bonafide livelihood needs.
- The
maximum limit of the recognizing rights on forest land is 4 ha.
- National
Parks and Sanctuaries have been included along with Reserve
Forest, Protected Forests for the recognition of Rights.
- The Act recognizes
the right of ownership access to collect, use, and dispose of minor forest
produce by tribals.
- Minor
forest produce includes all non-timber forest produce of plant origin.
- The
rights conferred under the Act shall be heritable but not alienable or
transferable.
- As per
the Act, the Gram Sabha has been designated as the competent
authority for initiating the process of determining the nature and
extent of individual or community forest rights.