MAPTENURE: ENABLING TENURIAL CLARITY FOR ORANGE AREAS OF CENTRAL INDIA (original) (raw)
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Territorialisation and marginalisation in the forested landscapes of Orissa, India
Internal territorialisation or the formalisation of forest rights has led to increased state ownership in many countries, often ignoring traditional or customary tenure and land use. Because of its roots in a formal government process, the disjuncture between formal rights and local practices may be seen as unproblematic to policymakers, even though it harms the livelihoods of marginalised forest dwellers. In India in 2006, this situation was sought to be addressed by the passage of the Forest Rights Act, which acknowledged the injustices of the territorialisation process and aimed to restore some rights over forest use to forest-dwelling people. In this paper we examine the history of the territorialisation process in forested areas in the state of Orissa, India, and its implications for local inhabitants’ land rights and livelihoods. We use archival research and case studies to examine how imposition of formal land tenure in forested areas failed to recognise rights and led to exclusion, contestation and conflict. The archival research and the case studies were among the evidence presented in the Indian Parliament in support of passage of the 2006 law. They demonstrate the important role that researchers can play in the political process through careful documentation targeted at policymakers.
This article draws on results from an exploratory project at Gandhamardhan Hill in Odisha state to understand the possibilities for community resource mapping in support of community control over common lands in eastern India. Based on improved national legislation and technical development in GIS, community resource mapping can support formal community control of forests, help secure individual titles to agricultural land, and give a voice for communities in planning bodies when mining is proposed. The project mapped part of Gandhamardhan Hill and five adjacent villages, drawing on official land records and ethnographic research. It is found that while there are promising possibilities to use the maps in national environmental advocacy, contextual social and resource use complexities make tenure claims challenging at the moment. Institutional arrangements, lacking community cohesion and wide variations in resource uses need to be better understood in order to realise the potential of maps in support of community resource rights.
Common pool resources provide important socioeconomic and ecological benefits for local communities and beyond, with around 2.5-3 billion people depending on commons for their livelihoods and other needs globally. In India, common lands constitute around a quarter of the country's landmass, help meet the subsistence and livelihood needs of at least 350 million people and are of social and cultural significance to rural communities, as well as providing ecosystem services that benefit wider society. Despite these vital contributions, India's commons have been facing widespread degradation, and policymakers tend to perceive some commons as "wastelands" because their true extent and value is not known. This study contributes to improved understanding of the magnitude and vitality of commons for rural communities, focusing on land-based commons in India. We provide a national assessment of the spatial extent and usage of common lands across districts, using publicly available spatial datasets and 2011 Census of India data and Household Census data. We further examine the spatial overlap between common lands and officially recognized protected areas to shine light on the possible locations where sustainable management or restoration of commons can potentially add value to conservation, in addition to benefiting local communities. Our results show that common lands are spread out spatially across the country and are intertwined, with more than one type of commons often present within the same district. Further, communities, especially poor, marginalized and indigenous communities such as Scheduled Tribe rely on forest commons, barren lands, pastures and culturable wastelands for their livelihoods, including for extraction of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for housing and cooking, grazing livestock, among others. Common lands and the communities that depend on them also often live in proximity to or are surrounded by officially recognized protected areas. Our study points to the need to drill down to more disaggregated level for commons mapping, which, in conjunction with information on the values of ecosystem services provide by commons, could inform land use policies and conservation and development planning.
2010
The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the World Agroforestry Centre. Articles appearing in this publication may be quoted or reproduced without charge, provided the source is acknowledged. All images remain the sole property of their source and may not be used for any purpose without written permission of the source. Disclaimer This report summarizes the findings of a RATA (RApid Tenure Claim Appraisal) study aimed to inventory the various claims to land tenure and use rights, in the context of historical developments and policy decisions at national, provincial and district level, interacting with local communities, NGO's and private sector stakeholders. Our report does not provide formal legal opinion (and cannot be constructed to be such) about the validity of any or all of the various claims. Such validation checks will require considerable further analysis of the respective priority of the various rules and regulations to which the claims refer, in the light of incomplete or inconsistent implementation by the government of its own rules. In 'legal pluralism' mode, the de facto power to impose or sabotage rules, modification and use of natural resources is ultimately a political process of contest where legality of one's own and illegality of others' claims is used to justify action. A comprehensive settlement and negotiation process may be the most pragmatic and fair solution. We hope our findings contribute to the mutual understanding between the various claimants. Efforts to reduce the carbondioxide emissions from this 'hot spot' will depend on success in resolving the 'hot spot' of contested rights (local, customary, and statutory) in an area where former policies and national program in an era of limited public political space had undermined the ecological integrity of this peat dome. Contents 1. Background and Objective.
An Analysis of the Property Rights of Forest Dependent Communities: The Indian Context
Vikalpa
Assigning property rights to individuals to pollute the environment or not be polluted from the actions of other individuals would lead to voluntary negotiations between the concerned individuals resulting in efficient allocation of the resources regardless of the initial specification of property rights (as cited in Tacconi, 2011, p. 3). The role of the state is limited to the assignment of property rights. State intervention is required when transaction costs are high (Coase, 1960).
Forest is a unique renewable natural local resource of global importance. In India is one of the twelve mega biodiversity countries of the world, and is home of 7.7% of world's bio-diversity of which 80% is in forests accounting for 10.9% of global flora and 7.31% of global. Indian forests meet 40 % of the energy needs and 30 % of total fodder supply in the country. They provide livelihood support to over 275 million people living in and around forestswith 1,73,000 villages located inside or on forest fringe areas. Against the national goal of 1/3 rd of land to be under forests the recorded forest area in the country is 23.4% of the total geographical area of India. The Indian forest are under huge pressure evident from the fact that with only 2.3 % of world's total geographical area India supports 17% of the world's population and 18% of world's livestock population. Per capita forest area in the country is only 0.06 ha. against the world average of 0.59 ha.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2021
Land tenure in North East India is governed under customary laws with adequate autonomy and protection under the Indian Constitution. Most land in the hill areas remains un-surveyed and lacks land records. Moreover land relations remain patriarchal, with poor recognition of women's land rights. Land conflicts within communities and as a result of development interventions are intensifying in the absence of documented land rights; land use changes from traditional shifting cultivation to long-term uses, like horticulture and paddy terraces, also call for tenure security and documentation to incentivize investments and access to the entitlements. The Rongmei Naga Baptist Association (RNBA), an NGO network, with support from NR Management Consultants-Centre for Land Governance (NRMC-CLG) piloted a community mapping exercise in the Manipur Hills. The project trained local youth to use a mobile phone linked to a differential global positioning system (DGPS) to map and document long-term land use rights with concurrence from local communities resulting in legitimate village institutions issuing Land Tenure Certificates with joint title (including women's names), spatial details, and documentation of customary norms. The process involved local and customary institutions and was shared with state-level actors, including members of autonomous district councils (ADC), clan leaders, and Government officials. Documented and transparent evidence of land rights can reduce conflicts in customary tenure landscapes. A fit for purpose land administration solution can help village councils to develop their own digital land administration system quickly document land tenure in the un-surveyed hill regions. Scaling up and sustaining mapping and land rights documentation across the Manipur Hill districts, however, requires political participation of higher tribal institutions, such as the ADC and Hill Area Committee (HAC), as well as champions within the State administration.
Contested landscapes, dispossessed people: land, forests and tribals in Orissa
Forest
Access to land and landbased resources has been a critical issue for the tribal communities in forested landscapes of Central India, including Orissa. Though land and land based resources are central to the livelihoods of tribal people, they have poor access to land and forests. Poor access to land resources seems to be a major reason underlying chronic poverty amongst tribals and the recurrent conflicts in the region. The loss of private landholdings by tribals has been a cause of concern. However, as this paper shows, the poor access of tribal land is not only the outcome of land alienation to nontribals, but is also the outcome of land and forest policies followed by the State. The paper identifies the some of the main processes which have led to poor access to land for the tribals. The major typologies affecting tribal access to land have been categorized into loss of land settled with tribals through private transactions, lack of proper recording of occupation rights through survey and settlements, forests land creation, displacement through land acquisition under development projects and poor implementation of land regularization and distribution. The paper discusses these typologies in details with examples and illustrations. It discusses some of the possible steps which can be taken to ameliorate the current situation.
Artha Vijnana , 2022
This article examines the Kerala government decision to issue revenue land rights to individuals, including scheduled caste and scheduled tribes in a few districts. It also looks at a circular issued by the state forest department to do away with the myriad of issues associated with the implementation of the Forest Right Act, 2006 (FRA) in the state. Such a decision in the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has raised suspicion among the community and triggered arguments and counterarguments within major tribal groups and activists in the state. These documents seem to be a clear violation of FRA. We argue that the policies might help the government and private land mafia to acquire tribal land for large-scale commercial use that further vitiate the adivasi land question in the state.