Work

Forests at Crossroads of Bureaucracy and Indigeneity: A Post Colonial Critique of the Contemporary Developments in Forest Governance in India

Year: 2024

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: Forest dwellers in India have been known to serve as the primary stakeholder in forest governance with their livelihoods and subsistence depending on it.Forest landscapes have shaped the identity and traditions of numerous forest-dwelling communities, especially in India.Yet, forest governance in India has been defined by prolonged bureaucratic intercession into the land and livelihoods of these communities.Contemporary forest regimes in India have been grafted through disclaiming the identities of forest-dwelling communities, both during and after colonial rule.Nevertheless, the Forest Rights Act 2006, to some extent diluted this trend, being enacted to address the 'historical injustice' to forest dwellers.However, yet again, the Act failed to provide any momentum to the rights of forest dwellers and was criticized on many fronts for glaring inconsistencies, ultimately failing to achieve its stated goals.This paper seeks to deconstruct India's forest governance regime, locating the identities of forestdwelling communities within the existing regime.The paper adopts a postcolonial lens and seeks to provide some pointers in charting out the future trajectory of the governance of forests in the country.

Source: Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research/Advances in social science, education and humanities research

DOI: 10.2991/978-2-38476-255-2_21

Authors: Shreyasi Bhattacharya, Ujal Kumar Mookherjee, Akshra Mehla

Institution: Symbiosis International University

Language: English

Topic: Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Life on land

Open Access status: diamond

OpenAlex ID: W4399586931