Impact of NTFP ban on the lives and livelihood of the ... - Vasundhara

Issues in Protected Areasacross the countryINTRODUCTIONOver the last few decades, India has undertaken an ambitious programme <strong>of</strong> declaring areasprotected for wildlife, after Independence under the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972. The countrytoday has over 600 protected areas (PAs), covering almost 5% <strong>of</strong> its geographical area. In addition,there are a number <strong>of</strong> other legal and non-legal categories that provide varying degrees <strong>of</strong>conservation coverage to specific sites: protected and reserved forests (under the Indian Forest Act1927), biosphere reserves, tiger reserves, elephant reserves (none <strong>of</strong> these with legal backing),ecologically sensitive areas (under the Environment Protection Act 1986), and so on.These protected areas are vital to the conservation <strong>of</strong> the biological diversity <strong>of</strong> the country. Notonly are they valuable heritage assets, but they also play an important role in protecting watershedsand coastlines, providing livelihoods and encouraging conservation.Unfortunately all over the developing world, the problems and conflicts around biodiversityconservation are intense. This is especially the case, since models and paradigms <strong>of</strong> exclusionaryconservation have been imposed on social and ecological contexts where human and resourcesinterface is very pronounced. In India, the debate on applicability as well as effectiveness <strong>of</strong>exclusionary conservation paradigm has been intensifying in recent years, and there have beenincreased advocacy efforts for participatory wildlife management. The actual progress in thedirection <strong>of</strong> participatory and community based conservation strategies has been limited. Theconservation model applied to India (through the enactment <strong>of</strong> the WLPA 1972) comes directlyfrom the west (notably, the Yellowstone National Park model <strong>of</strong> the United States), and advocates aseparation <strong>of</strong> wildlife from people. The People vs. Parks conflict was especially brought into sharpfocus following the recent <strong>ban</strong> on collection <strong>of</strong> <strong>NTFP</strong> from the Protected Areas by the SupremeCourt. This order <strong>of</strong> the Supreme Court (dated 14 th February 2000) followed by the enactment <strong>of</strong>the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2002 (section 29), further worsened the livelihood situation <strong>of</strong> theforest dependent communities in and around the Protected Areas.In Orissa, Protected Areas cover around 4.2% <strong>of</strong> the total geographical area (8111.55 sq.kms.) and -11.4% <strong>of</strong> total forest area <strong>of</strong> the state. There are 18 sanctuaries and 2 National Parks in the state andmost <strong>of</strong> these protected areas are in the Scheduled V areas or in areas where the tribal population ispredominantly high.The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 is a strong regulatory statute which restricts almost all activitiesinside Protected Areas. These include restrictions on entry to sanctuary (Section 27), removal <strong>of</strong>forest products including <strong>NTFP</strong>s (except for bonafide self consumption), regulation or prohibition<strong>of</strong> grazing or movement <strong>of</strong> livestock etc. This effectively exiles people living inside the Protectedarea from civilization, with restrictions on movement <strong>of</strong> goods and services.Thus the law provides power for acquisition or commutation <strong>of</strong> rights within the area intended to bedeclared as sanctuary or National parks. Certain assumptions lie beneath the process <strong>of</strong> acquisition<strong>of</strong> rights. One <strong>of</strong> the important one is that the rights in the area to be declared are already formally7