The political agenda of implementing Forest Rights Act 2006: evidences from Indian Sundarban

Amrita Sen () and Sarmistha Pattanaik ()
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Amrita Sen: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Sarmistha Pattanaik: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2019, vol. 21, issue 5, No 15, 2355-2376

Abstract: Abstract The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (FRA) is a landmark statutory law which aims to grant ownership rights and forest management powers to the marginalized forest-dependent communities in India. Our study, conducted in Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR) region of West Bengal, reveals that at particular locations where the act suffers from implementation deficits or lack of coverage, it is imperative to investigate the role of local politics in facilitating or impeding access to forest rights. The study identifies the political drivers which influence the (non) implementation of the act in the SBR. It argues that despite being a rights-based law, the implementation of FRA is deeply implicated within vested political interests at specific geographical locations. The study concludes that a critique of the political economy of forest conservation is inadequate to explain the limitations of FRA implementation.

Keywords: FRA; Conservation; Forest workers; Forest department; Politics; Sundarban (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-018-0138-7

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