Blog 204- Strengthening Local Forest Governance to Restore Forests
India has a diverse range of forests and is home to 8% of the world’s flora and fauna. As per the India State of Forest Report-2021, India’s total forest and tree cover was 80.9 million hectares, which accounted for 21.71% of the geographical area of the country. These forests support the livelihood of nearly 200 million people who are dependent on food, fuelwood, fodder, and other forest produce. The culture and economy of these forest dwellers are deeply connected to these lands.
In the heart of India’s Central Tribal Belt, where indigenous communities have safeguarded the forest ecosystem for generations, a remarkable transformation is taking place. PRADAN, one of India’s biggest national-level NGOs, has been actively involved in the recognition and implementation of forest rights. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 or the Forest Rights Act (FRA) – 2006, is one of the most important and popular entitlement-based laws enacted in India favoring tribal and other traditional forest dwellers’ rights over forest land (Box 1).