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Community forestry and its implications for land related disputes: Evidence from India

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  • Nandwani, Bharti

Abstract

India has a history of contested land ownership over forests. The contest is between government that has held legal rights and forest-dwelling communities whose traditional rights have not been recognised. However, in 2008 a legislative reform – Forest Rights Act (FRA) – was introduced that gave forest ownership rights to forest-dwellers. We study evolution of land-related disputes after enactment of FRA. Two opposing forces are expected. While provision of land rights is likely to address forest-dwellers contestation over diversion of forest land, existence of contradictory laws as well as implementation gaps undermine the rights of forest dwellers. Additionally, the legislation is likely to increase the value that communities place on land, increasing their demand for titles in case of a contest. We employ difference-in-difference methodology to show that land disputes increased after FRA implementation. We show that contradictory conservation policies, lax implementation and increased incentives to demand claims resulted in this increase.

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  • Nandwani, Bharti, 2022. "Community forestry and its implications for land related disputes: Evidence from India," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:73:y:2022:i:c:s0176268021001270
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2021.102155
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    References listed on IDEAS

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