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Environmnetal Changes and Community Forestry: An Observation of The Nayagarh District of Odisha | |||||||
Paper Id :
17782 Submission Date :
2023-06-28 Acceptance Date :
2023-07-07 Publication Date :
2023-07-10
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Abstract |
Environmental changes which occurred due to human interference, are avoidable and so also their adverse implications for human and other living creatures. The human interference can be visible in degradation of the environment such as deforestation, air, water and soil pollutions and increase in the numbers of endangered species. The most visible form of environmental change is shrinking forest area and desertification of forest land. Despite governmental measures to protect the green vegetation, deforestation is on rampant in India. This situation attracts our attention to the community-forest interaction and role of the immediate stakeholders in forest preservation. The concept of community forest is an attempt to distribute the responsibility of preservation to the people. Community forest is a relevant connotation for Odisha, as like any other Indian state it is facing the challenges of deforestation and environmental changes. Gifted with abundant natural resources, green vegetation and a demographic composition with a sizeable tribal communities Odisha offers valid grounds for community forestry. The Nayagarh district of Odisha have several stories of community claims over local forestry.
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Keywords | Community Forest, Deforestation, Forest Conservation, Gram Sabha. | ||||||
Introduction | Environmental change is an inevitable process. It brings a
great deal of transformation of human environment and bears consequences for
all the living creatures on earth. The changes in environment can be occurred
due to natural occurrences and human interference. The natural occurrences are
responsible for bringing a slow and gradual transformation on environment and
changes which are inevitable. Such changes are also desirable for the
evolutionary process of nature and beyond the control of any artificial
arrangement. However, many of the environmental changes that got accomplished
due to human interference, are avoidable and so also their adverse implications
for human and other living creatures. The human interference can be visible in
degradation of the environment such as deforestation, air, water and soil
pollutions and increase in the numbers of endangered species. The most visible
form of environmental change is shrinking forest area and desertification of
forest land. Despite governmental measures to protect the green vegetation,
deforestation is on rampant in India. This situation attracts our attention to
the community-forest interaction and role of the immediate stakeholders in
forest preservation. The concept of community forest is an attempt to distribute
the responsibility of preservation to the people. Community forest is a
relevant connotation for Odisha, as like any other Indian state it is facing
the challenges of deforestation and environmental changes. Gifted with abundant
natural resources, green vegetation and a demographic composition with a
sizeable tribal communities Odisha offers valid grounds for community forestry.
The Nayagarh district of Odisha have several stories of community claims over
local forestry. The village communities of the district play the role of
beneficiary as well as conservators of local forests. This offers a remarkable
success in forest conservation and prevention of environmental change in Odisha. |
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Objective of study | 1. To examine the problem of environmental changes 2. To understand the concept of community forestry 3. To find out the status of community forestry in Odisha 4. To evaluate the success of community forestry in Nayagarh
district. |
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Review of Literature | This paper is based on both primary and secondary source of literature. Primary
source of literature such as National Forest Policy 1988, The Orissa Forest Act 1972, Budget 2021-22 of Odisha Government have been explored to collect
information and data. Similarly, secondary source of information and data have
been collected from United Nations documents and Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Government of India’s documents. Various newspaper articles and data from
government websites have been used to substantiates the arguments. |
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Main Text |
The Concept of Community
Forestry
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Conclusion |
Community forestry is the best possible way to prevent
deforestation. It sets the onus of forest conservation on the local communities
who are the primary stakeholders of local forests. The measures taken in Odisha
to promote community forestry can be evaluated by examining the case of
Nayagarh district. It reflects the importance of forest for the local
communities for their livelihood and survival. The cases of Nayagarh district
also reaffirm the role of women in forest conservation. Women have proved their
credentials in forest management and conservation over men in Nayagarh
district. Thus, promotion of community forest is also beneficial for women
empowerment and gender equality. Further, the legal provisions of Odisha have
extended the role of Gram Sabhas in forest management. Intensive involvement of
Gram Sabhas in community forestry will strengthen democratic decentralisation
in real sense. |
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References | 1. Arnold, J.E.M (2001), Twenty-Five Years Of Community
Forestry, Rome: Food And Agricultural Organization Of The United Nations. 2. Ibid 3. Sustainable Forest Management Project, TA-3152-CAM, “Community
Forestry Guidelines”, Rome: Food And Agricultural Organization Of The United
Nations [Online web] https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/cam204405.pdf. 4. Nayak, Prateep K. (2002), “Community-Based Forest
Management In India: The Issue Of Tenurial Significance”, Paper for the 9th
Biennial Conference of the IASCP, 17 - 21 June 2002, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe,
Anand: Foundation of Ecological Security. 5. Ministry of Environment and Forests, “National Forest
Policy 1988”, Government of India, New Delhi [Online web]
https://mpforest.gov.in/img/files/Policy_NFP.pdf 6. ENVIS RP on Forestry and Forest Related Livelihoods,
“Joint Forest Management”, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun [Online web]
http://frienvis.nic.in/database/joint_forest_management_1949.aspx 7. Ministry Of Tribal Affairs, Government Of India, “Forest
Rights Act”,[Online web] ttps://tribal.nic.in/FRA.aspx 8. Ibid. 9. Ota, A.B.(2018),ed., Tribal Atlas of Odisha, Academy of
Tribal Languages and Culture and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research
and Training Institute, SC & ST Development Department, Government of
Odisha [Online web] https://repository.tribal.gov.in /bitstream/123456789/74411
/1/SCST_2018_book _0322.pdf 10. Forest Survey of India, “Odisha”, [Online web]
https://fsi.nic.in/isfr19/vol2/isfr-2019-vol-ii-odisha.pdf 11. The Odisha Gazette, “ The Orissa Forest Act 1972”, India
Code [Online web] https://www.indiacode.nic.in /bitstream/ 123456789/5955/1/
the_orissa_forest_act_1972.pdf 12. Routray, Dr Sailen (2016) Promise and Performance of the
Forest Rights Act, 2006, The Tenth Anniversary Report, Forest Right Act Website
[Online web] https://www.fra.org.in/document /Promise%20and%20Proformance
%20of%20FRA_Odisha%20Report-15.Dec.16.pdf 13. Ministry of Finance Odisha, “Budget 2021-22, Part-II,
General ”, Presented By Sri Niranjan Pujari, Minister, finance, Government of
Odisha, [Online web]
https://finance.odisha.gov.in/sites/default/files/2021-02/04-BUDGET_SPEECH_ENGLISH-PART-2.pdf
14. Barik, Satyasundar (2022), “ Forest Rights Act : Well
Begun And Now Odisha Is Ready For The Home Run”, The Hindu, Bhubaneswar, 27
July 2022. 15. Niyogi, Deepanwita Gita(2022), “Meet The Forest Worriers
Of Nayagarh”, Tehelka, 1st October 2022, [Online web]
http://tehelka.com/meet-the-forest-warriors-of-nayagarh/ 16. Ibid 17. Sahu, Priya Ranjan(2021), “In Odisha’s Nayagarh , 24
Villages Receive Community and Forest Resource Rights”, Down To Earth, 03
November 2021, [Online web]
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/forests/in-odisha-s-nayagarh-24-villages-receive-community-forest-resource-rights-80025
18. Ibid |