Category : Environment Conservation | Location : Chhattisgarh | Posted on 2022-07-14 03:12:52
Chargaon village in Chattisgarh’s Dhamtari district has emerged as a torchbearer of utilising forest rights to underpin livelihoods.
The two Gram Sabhas of the village — Naya Basti and Purana Basti — received Community Forest Resources Right (CFRR) for 2,045 hectares of surrounding forest land in August last year. Unlike most other neighbouring villages that were also awarded the title during the same time, villagers in Chargaon have started streamlining the growing and selling of forest produce.
“It has not even been a year since we received CFRR title and we have a nursery in our village where we have over twenty varieties of saplings we will plant in our forest area,” said Deonath Netam, 61, from Naya Basti.
They have also started undertaking responsibilities for protecting the forest since they got the rights, since they can now take pride in being the claimants, he added. “The forest is like my father.”
The superior quality of the leaves in their area is likely behind the good sales, according to the village dwellers.
Reduction in migration from the village after it got CFRR is a story of self-sufficiency, said Vatti. The direct benefits of the CFRR titles have been restricted to protecting their resources from their forest area, he added. “Better planning and the active role of Community Forest Management Committee (CFMC), with the backing from civil society groups, have led them to benefit so much economically over a short period.”
The villagers are yet to see the desired increase in profit share from forest officials through sales of small forest produce, said Sugmalal Vatti, another resident of Naya Basti. “But now, anybody from the neighbouring village or official is scared of entering our forest without our permission. That is the power of CFRR.”
Moreover, in an important development from 2021, Chhattisgarh had set a new record of procuring 73 per cent of the country’s forest produce. It became the only state to procure 52 minor forest produce under the minimum support price scheme.
Around 1,800 square kilometres of the Sitanadi Tiger Reserve is within Dhamtari, where gathering tendu leaves is prohibited. So, villages like Jorataraai, Masalkhoi and Karhi within the reserve that have received the CFRR title, can’t gather or sell tendu leaves like the residents in Chargaon.
The lack of a proper CFMC is another impediment for the villagers who are yet to taste economic prosperity from CFRR, DTE noticed.
Source: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/forests/community-forest-rights-at-work-chhattisgarh-s-chargaon-reaps-benefits-in-first-year-itself-83715
