Tribals get right to profit from bamboo
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COMMENTS 
Mendha Lekha becomes the first village to get rights to harvest and sell bamboo, although conservationists sound a warning about allowing this in protected areas
The inclusion of bamboo as minor forest produce (MFP), thus allowing its commercial exploitation by tribal communities, has been stoutly resisted by state forest departments and now by conservationists too.
Though the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 includes bamboo as an MFP, states have been slow in allowing it. On April 27, 2011, the state of Maharashtra officially declared bamboo to be an MFP and issued transit passes to the villagers of Mendha Lekha, in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, according them rights to harvest and manage bamboo as a forest produce. Gram sabhas are now empowered to issue the passes.
The move comes in the wake of the Union environment ministry’s letter to the states in March asking them to include bamboo in the list of MFP as stipulated in the FRA.
State forest departments argue that allowing bamboo to be freely cut and sold will denude forests of this resource. Only forest produce that is grown should be harvested in proportion to the amount harvested, and bamboo is not a resource that is grown. Though there is a National Bamboo Mission, it has not increased bamboo output. Hitherto, bamboo has been considered a tree or timber, which gives the forest department exclusive rights to harvest it.
It is unclear whether the same rights apply to protected areas. According to conservationists, bamboo in wildlife reserves affords vital cover for animals such as tigers and allowing the plant to be indiscriminately cut and sold will impact on the wildlife and the ecosystem. Birds like the grey and red jungle fowls and rufus turtle dove eat bamboo flower seeds. Dominant bamboo patches provide shade in dry deciduous forests, and herbivores eat the plant in the dry season.
Around 25 crore people in India depend upon forests. The 2006 Forest Rights Act gave them rights over land as well as forest produce, both because it righted the historic wrong of not allowing them rights to land they had settled on for generations, and also because new thinking held that local people must have a stake in the conservation of resources.
Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh wants further extension of rights to tribals. He has announced that the central government would soon take a decision on a minimum support price for minor forest produce. He has also said that the limit of forest land to be given under community rights would be increased to five hectares from the present two hectares in Naxal-affected districts of Maharashtra.
An amendment will also be made to the Forest Act making it necessary to get the consent of the gram sabha in booking anyone under the Forest Act.
Source: The Hindu, April 29, 2011
www.cseindia.org, April 29, 2011
DNA, April 28, 2011