For Indigenous people, their forest has been relevant in many spheres of their lives – social, economic, political and spiritual. This makes their culture inseparable from the forest. Under the FRA, to claim for Community Forest Rights (CFRs) – historical evidence of traditional dependence on the forest is one aspect, but the underlying fact is to profess sustainable forest management as a premise.
In order to formulate this management plan, selected community members from all our working regions in the NBR were a part of a one-day workshop. Youth, women and other individuals who have shown keen interest over the last year during the FRA meetings held in the field areas were called upon for this workshop.
The workshop has three main segments, each focusing on one subject – organic farming, watershed management, and sustainable collection of NTFP and usage of forest resources. These sessions helped the groups visualize and devise a plan that will be used as a supporting document while filing for CFRs.
We envisage that claims submitted with a detailed plan depicting the community’s plan of action for sustainable management- though it has been inherent to their lifestyle will make their case stronger.
