Critical assessment of implementation of the Forest Rights Act of India

Under a centralized forest management system dating back to the start of the British colonial regime, forest-dwelling communities across India were denied formal rights to access forest resources, while large tracts of forest land were degraded or deforested. Enacted in 2006, The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, better known as the Forest Rights Act, was a landmark piece of legislation in India. Its attempt at righting a “historic injustice” and “strengthening the conservation regime” through recognition of forest dwellers’ right to sustainably use and manage forests is significant for socioeconomic, political and ecological reasons. Beyond implications for people and forests of India, the Forest Rights Act represents an important case study that informs analysis of a global trend toward decentralization of governance of forests as well as rights-based approaches to development. This study analyses implementation of the Forest Rights Act across India for the period 2008-2017. We examine rates of formal distribution of rights claims at the level of individual states, and we try to explain variance across states through reliance on political, economic and ecological considerations. In trying to make sense of the large variation in the outcomes of claims made under the Forest Rights Act across states, we find that extent of forest cover is positively associated with rate of distribution of claims, and presence of left-wing extremism is positively associated with claim rejection rates. These findings indicate constraints to wider and more even formal implementation of this legal foundation for development, and they highlight important governance tensions underlying prospects for environmental conservation through decentralization of forest management authority.