India

The money that the Indian Government collects from companies destroying forests, such as mining companies, is being used to harass, persecute and evict people from the so-called Protected Areas, such as the Tiger Reserves, National Parks and Wild Life Sanctuaries.

This study looks at how Compensatory Afforestation is accelerating both, the destruction of forests in India by big corporations and the appropriation of community land for the supposed compensation.

While the destruction of forest territories continues, more pledges, agreements and programs are being implemented in the name of ‘addressing deforestation and climate change’.

A long cycle of state repression in India now sees new amendments to the colonial Indian Forest Act which would not only make forest bureaucracy more powerful than ever, but would also de facto put an end to the landmark Forest Rights Act.

Appeal to India, to its Supreme Court, States, Party Leaders, to the NHRC, NCST and to the UN organs to protect millions forest dwellers’ Human Rights and biocultural diversity from forced evictions.

The petition to support forest dwelling communities remains open for sign-on until April 19th 2019. You can sign on here.

Resist the anti-adivasi designs of the BJP government!

Before, conservation organizations were focused on raising money to create protected areas in forests supposedly threatened with destruction; today, they constitute a bona fide transnational “industry” that manages and controls areas that go far beyond forests.

Despite the harassment from Forest Department guards, who tried to prevent the Fulwaripara village to submit their claims for recognition of their land under the Forest Rights Act, the village managed to do so. Yet, their claim was not completed. Now, they face again the threat of eviction.

On February 13, 2019, India’s Supreme Court passed an order that instructs state governments to evict forest dwelling communities if their claims to live in their forests have not been recognized under the Forest Rights Act (FRA). After forest movements mobilized against the order, on February 28, the Supreme Court has put on hold the evictions till next date of hearing, 24 July 2019. While the latest order by the Court brings some modicum of relief for the forest communities of India, this in no way dissipates the threat.

A report from the Indian organization Kalpavriksh documents community initiatives that protect biodiversity while ensuring their cultural, livelihood and food sovereignty in the Dooars region of North West Bengal. Indigenous communities in this area faced unjust forestry practices since colonial rule that led to the exploitation of forests and usurpation of their customary rights.