27.3.11

Of bamboo harvesting....

Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh has written to the chief ministers of all states to declare and treat bamboo as minor forest produce. His letter on March 21 allows the tribal population and the people living on the fringes of the forests to harvest and sell the produce. The gram sabha will issue transit passes so that the bamboo can be transported to market places for sale. Earlier, the passes were issued by the forest department. However, to guard against over-exploitation, the minister’s letter has stressed that the impact of extraction should be reviewed every three years and appropriate changes made in the working and management plans. The letter notes that the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 has defined all non-timber forest produce of plant origin including bamboo as minor forest produce. Till now, bamboo, a grass species, was treated as timber under provisions of the Indian Forest Act, 1927. A tight control was exercised on the lucrative trade of the building material involving crores of rupees, depriving forest-dependent communities from revenue bamboo could fetch. The letter said that the ministry must look into the setting up of a system for the conservation of bamboo forests and enable the empowerment of people for sustainable use and management of this important resource. Ashish Kothari, member of Kalpavriksh and FRA national committee, said that because of a monopoly of the state there was a control on cutting of bamboos. There was also subsidy on bamboo prices for the industries. For example, in the 1980s in some states bamboo was sold at Re 1 per tonne for industries, whereas the forest dweller had to pay Re1 per bamboo. Industrial use has also destroyed bamboo forests and disrupted wildlife, he said. The minister’s letter specifies that where rights to community forest resources are recognised and vested under the FRA, 2006, the villagers can determine the use of bamboo. They can plan its commercial use in consultation with the forest department. If implemented in the spirit of the FRA, the revenue will now fully come to the village. The areas where community forest rights are not claimed or settled, revenue generated from bamboo cultivation or management will be shared by the forest department and the local communities. Kothari pointed out that the role of the forest department will shift from one of control and monopoly to helping and facilitating the local communities. The FRA grants community forest rights to manage, protect, and regenerate the forest and to own and dispose of minor forest products from forests where they had traditional access. This includes the right to sell. ‘ However, in Mendha-Lekha village in Gadchiroli district, among the first to get such rights last year, the people were not been allowed to sell bamboo to outsiders, as the forest department did not issue transit passes. Devaji Tofa, a villager in Mendha-Lekha, said, “Going by the FRA, we are allowed to sell bamboo. But the forest department did not allow it by not issuing transit passes. When we told the officials about our rights, they said they do not have the guidelines of the act and hence could not allow the transit of bamboos. Hence, we are using the produce ourselves.’’ Kothari said some democratic checks and balances are required to ensure that both conservation and livelihood security are achieved.

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