Forest rights act & community conservation initiatives in Odisha: Exploring an alternative regime of forest governance

As with all rural communities, a central factor affecting tribal livelihood possibilities is access to and control over natural resources, in this case both land and forests. A major problem is that traditional homelands of tribal communities have been classified as forest lands vested with the state. In the absence of clearly defined property rights, millions of tribal families living in or around forest land can be deemed encroachers and thereby illegal occupants, continually living under the shadow of eviction. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006‖ has created uproar since its enactment especially due to the concern raised by the conservation lobby. In Odisha one can take account of two facets of conservation. The communities who have been residing within the protected areas have no legal standing as of today because the state never acknowledges their very existence-an ethical blunder and a blatant human right violation. On the other hand there are thousands of forest protecting communities who have been active and vigilant in maintaining around 12% greenery of the state are hardly find any place in laws and policies. This paper reiterates that there is ample space within the ambit of Forest rights Act that both the facets of conservation, may it be the protected areas or the self-initiated forest protecting groups interest, can well be managed with every concern towards conservation. This paper also delves deep into some of the inherent problematic areas beyond the Forest Rights Act and reiterates that by engaging indigenous and local communities conservation can be a powerful means of coping with the global changes sweeping our planet. It may require a sharing of power not favored by many of the agencies currently in charge; but on the eve of socio-economic and environmental change of great proportions, conservation can no longer afford to consume its precious resources in fighting its best and most promising allies. The paper argues that, so long as the homo-sapiens that form an integral and natural part of this ecosystem, both surviving from the forest and at the same time preserving it, are not endowed with their cosmic right, no amount of laws and acts will help in conserving the natural resources of the state.