In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating at an industrial scale. The sheer volume of these shipments marked a disturbing milestone, one that revealed the global reach …
Judgement of the High Court of Orissa in the matter of Shiba Prasad Sahu Vs Authorised Officer-Cum-A.C.F., Boudh Division, Boudh regarding confiscation of the Applicant's truck carrying Sal Leaves plates by forest officials in Boudh. Consequent upon which, the forest officials initiated a confiscation proceeding against the petitioner under the …
Beneficial insects are one of the important economic components of forest ecosystem. Their exploitation had been historically linked with tribal economy especially in the Bastar Plateau and Northern Hills Sarguja Region, in which the whole of Chhattisgarh forms a part. Therefore, exploiting insects producing lac, silk and honey are important …
Forest Department Set To Lose Monopoly Over 10k Cr Annual Business New Delhi: Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan has overruled objections from her officials to break the forest bureaucracy’s monopoly over the annual Rs 10,000 crore bamboo trade and declared it a ‘minor forest produce’ instead of a ‘tree’ under forest …
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA)'s plan to introduce a Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism for 13 items of minor forest produce (MFP) has been approved by the Planning Commission. Sources in the Ministry told The Hindu that a detailed financial proposal would be sent to the Expenditure Finance Committee …
Non timber forest products (NTFPs) play a vital role in sustaining rural communities, particularly those living adjacent to forest areas. In India, it is estimated that over 50 million people are dependent on NTFPs for their subsistence and derive their earnings from these products after consuming about 60% of NTFPs.
It is important to understand the strong linkage that exists between food security, forest and resource conservation. Studies conducted over a decade in India clearly point to the fact that a majority of people in this country survive within a biomass based subsistence economy.
AN EXPERT committee, formed by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, has recommended that trade control of tendu leaves, critical for forest dwellers’ income, should vest in the state. The panel, headed by agriculture economist T Haque, was set up to ensure ownership rights of forest dwellers over minor forest produce …
New Delhi: The environment and forests ministry took half a step towards ending the monopoly of the forest department over the Rs 10,000 crore annual bamboo trade in the country. Environment minister Jairam Ramesh wrote to chief ministers of all states to alter their rules and instruct the state forest …
THE Union government is reviewing its landmark initiative, the Forest Rights Act, four years after enacting it. The aim is to find how to strengthen the law which was legislated to ensure the traditional rights of 100 million forest dwelling people in the country. Two high-level groups submitted their assessment …
Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) generate sizeable magnitudes of income and employment in different parts of the world for the tribal and poor people. The evidence is based on the review of past studies across different continents. The study presents a collective evidence for the role of NTFPs in development in …
Jharkhand has the reputation of being India’s biggest producer of lac, a scarlet-coloured resin secreted by an insect on trees. The state accounts for more than 50 per cent of the country’s lac produce. In 2004-05, Jharkhand produced 10,780 tonnes of lac. This season, from March to October, traders were …
Two tribal villages in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra—Mendha Lekha and Marda— savoured victory when they won community rights over their forest resources in August last year. The rights conferred under the Forest Rights Act of 2006 include the right to collect and sell minor forest produce (MFP). These include tendu …
Around July every year, Laxman Nag, a resident of Kolang village on the outskirts of Kanger National Park in Chhattisgarh, sees crows in his dreams. He sees the birds attacking silk cocoons to pick the larvae inside and wakes up in a sweat. Cocoons in the wild are his main …
Activists said forest dwellers get a raw deal in trade in nationalised MFP items. “Collection of forest produce is hard work. Women trudge through forests for long hours collecting mahua and lac and lug heavy loads, but have to sell their produce at a fraction of the market price,” said …
Can MFP help people break the cycle of poverty in the Naxal–affected districts? There are instances that offer hope. Subelal Markam, a Baiga tribal of Korka village in Madhya Pradesh used to get just Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 per bamboo piece from middlemen. In 2007, the forest department helped …
Forest people across India are being denied their legitimate right to collect and trade in minor forest produce. Down To Earth correspondents travelled to Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, MP, AP, Maharashtra & Orrisa to unravel the conspiracy.
The study to examine the growth and instability in production and export of Indian lac is based on secondary data collected for 38 years spanning from 1970-71 to 2007-08. The data were analyzed by using exponential function and instability index.
A study was conducted by Mayurbhanj Swechhasevi Samukhya (MASS) in Mayurbhanj district of Orissa with the objective to assess the contribution and role of NTFPs and the pattern of NTFP trade in tribal livelihoods.
