Wildlife and Nature Conservation - Centre for Ecological Sciences

As per the World Conservation strategy, 10% of the land area of the country should beunder Protected Area network. This may not be possible to be adopted for the generalareas of the country because of the high density of population. The population density ofthe North-East being generally low and the niches of biodiversity being large, it istherefore, desired that forest cover of the North-East extending into representativebiogeographic regions and biotic Provinces, should also be to the extent of 10% to 15%of the land area.10.2 Land Tenure System and Legal Aspects10.2.1 Land Tenure SystemNortheastern India stands unique in having separate land tenure systems compared to thegeneral situation in India. Out of the total forest cover of this area, about 35% belongs toGovernment under reserved forests, protected forests and protected areas and theGovernment have control over it. But the forests of the District Council, villagecommunities and private ownership in different States of the North-East have differentstatus and management.In Arunachal Pradesh, the indigenous people, living traditionally acquire their rights overas much land and forests as they inherit. Shifting cultivation is practiced on hill slopes onland owned by the villagers. Traditionally the village is a unit of administration by itselfand the boundaries of the lands belonging to the villagers are very clearly known to thevillage elders and these are respected by the neighbouring villages. The Village Councildivides the cultivated lands and distributes them amongst the clans living within thevillage, who in turn subdivide them amongst the members of each clan. The right of thepersons engaged in shifting cultivation cannot be transferred to others outside the villagecommunity. Within the same village, the land transfer can take place only with theconsent of the village clan. In case of land that is developed permanently, customary lawdemands that the rights can be transferred to any one belonging to another clan or subtribeor tribal group, with the consent of the village clan to which the land belonged. Noland can be sold to non-tribal people.In Assam, the areas permanently dedicated to forestry have been notified as reservedforests or proposed reserved forests under the Assam Forest Regulation and DistrictCouncil Forest Act. All reserved and proposed reserved forests are well surveyed, welldemarcated and duly notified. The reserved forests constituted under the Assam ForestRegulation before coming into effect of the District Council Forest Act, are not includedin the 6th schedule of the Constitution. However, these reserved forests in hill districts,since couple of years back, have been allowed to be managed by the District Councilunder scientific Management Plans prepared under the State authority. Generally, norights are allowed in reserved forests.However, there are many encroachments in reserved forest and their magnitude is not lessthan 3000 sq km. While legally all such people should be evicted, these encroachmentsare continuing due to various reasons.In Manipur, over 60% of the total forest area is still unclassified. The Manipur LandRevenue and Land Reforms (MLR & LR) Act 1960, declares that all lands includingforests, mines and minerals, which are not the property of any person are the property of149