For the first time, the Government of Odisha has prepared a roadmap for Community Forest Protection and Management Programme (CFPMP) in the State which will be effective from 2016-17 to 2021-22.
The forests of the State have thoroughly been neglected, rather mismanaged, without people’s participation. The forest management and the administration were monopolised exclusively by the State Forest Department as though the forests of a State are public properties. The Odisha Forestry Sector Development Society has taken the responsibilities for monitoring such roadmap in the State. It can be taken as a start-up for the causes of people, when forests are globally accepted as great modulators of regional climate. The scheme is also named as Ama Jangala Yojana (AJY). The proposed duration of the project is six years and its estimated cost is Rs1, 170.02 crore. Rs511.31 crore is proposed to be met out of CAMPA funds and Rs285.35 crore from the State plan through Forest and Environment Department, while Rs322.18 crore MGNREGS and Rs51.19 crore from NRlM though the Panchayati Raj Department would be earmarked for the purpose. This shows there are four contributing agencies of the Central and State Governments.
The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), MGNREGS and NRlM are all extremely pro- poor people and pro-environment schemes. But even long years after their implementation, they have not achieved the desired degree of success. MGNREG scheme has be a decade’s old now but its success rate has been far from being satisfactory.
Similarly, in CAMPA, crores and crores of rupees have been spent for raising compensatory afforestation against natural forests of the tropical origin sacrificed for mining and industrial purposes but its success rate is not so striking. So also is the case of National Rural livelihood Mission (NRlM). Every mission always carries certain promises and if such promises are not fulfilled, it is considered a failure.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (Mo EF&CC) aims is to make successful plans and ensure that each plan is successful by maintaining harmony between people’s demand and climatic requirements.
The aims and objectives of the Ama Jangala Yajana are (1) conserving forests through village level institutions, which are existing in many fringe villages and (2) community based initiatives. The basic approach is to improve the forest cover in the State and generate alternative livelihood options and reduce pressure on forests.
The conservation and management of natural resources were proved successful through State financing and capacity building of people in the fringe villages of forest blocks. A total of 12,500 joint Forest Management Committees in the name of Van Surakhya Samities (VSSs) and Eco-Development Committee were formed for community participation in forest management and conservation. The village communities are registered with their respective divisional forest offices in accordance of the Joint Forest Management Resolution 2011. For better and efficient management of residual forests, the Government of Odisha has enacted village Forest Rules 1985 for the management of village forests and the Joint Forest Management Resolutions of 1988, 1990, 1993, 1996, 2008 and 2011, which were amended in 2015. The action of the State Government further strengthened the policy of participatory forest management in the State.
As far as management of ecological systems goes, participation of people, particularly of locals, is a must. February 2 is observed as the Wetland Day globally, which means protection of wetlands, for the cause of better management of regional climates. There are 28 lakes in the globe. Odisha has five lakes considered as wetlands. Besides the lakes, there are rich river streams and springs in Odisha, which have a role to play in climatic formulations. So, all these wetlands should be included within the community based management plan as they are a valuable part of our ecological system.
When Nandankanan was started in 1961-62, the Kanjia lake was included in the project. But now most part of the swampy areas, including most part of reserve forests, are privatized due to inefficient management of the biological project. It has been a regular practice of certain avifauna of foreign lands to adorn this eco-system during winter and compose this vast land as an aviary. Most popularly the Kanjia birds which frequented to this wetland during winter now are reduced to a very negligible number.
As per sources, there are 7,000 Van Surakhya Samiti (VSSs) and Eco-Development Committees (EDCs) formed in 30 territorial and wildlife divisions of the State for carrying out participatory forest managements. Such village level institutions and local bodies are involved in protection and management of forest resources under Ama Jangala Yojana. It is an attempt to include the village level committees as active partners for scientific management of forest resources. It is mandatory that any village level committee either VSSs or EDCs coming under Ama Jangal Yojana (AJY) should agree to maintain the plantations and forests protected by them as per the working plans, prepared and revised from time to time by the authorities.
The working plans prepared by the State Forest Department should be pro-people and viable for the stakeholders. The Community Forest Protection and Management Programme can only be successful, when their rights and concessions are allowed to be met with. There are several cottage based industries in the village level of every forest division. Such stake holders and the consumers of forest products can play a vital role in the implementation of the Ama Jungle Yojana.
Needless to say, local people’s livelihood should get priority in the scheme. Especially the forest dwellers who know better how to protect, conserve and manage forests in their vicinity should be assimilated in the execution of the scheme.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist.
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