This is not to argue that the WLPA has not helped protect India’s beleaguered natural wealth and wildlife. It has had spectacular successes. The problem arises because large sections of the forest bureaucracy and those supporting wildlife conservation believe that the creation of wildlife sanctuaries and national parks means that people have to perforce move out. They now believe that the tribal bill will impede this necessity. Both are incorrect readings. To begin with the WLPA itself acknowledges that people have lived and continue to live in forests and protected areas and that they have rights over land and resources. The tribal bill will only help make the process of recording and dealing with these rights more rigorous and thereby more just.

Issue now has also been taken (‘Core of the forest issue,’ Jay Mazoomdar, IE, August 28) with provisions in the Wildlife Protection Act Amendment Bill for reinforcing fundamentally just principles like those of no forced displacement and of a decision-making process that is transparent, participatory and just. The government figure of forest land under encroachment is 13.34 lakh hectares. This is less than two per cent forest area of the country and this is land that will be used for occupation. The overall impact will be larger if one takes into consideration lands needed for development projects in the villages and other rights like those over Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) that are to be granted. Even then, fears suggesting that apocalypse is waiting round the corner can only be considered exaggerated. It must also be said, however, that all in not right with the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) version of the bill that was to be placed in Parliament.

... contd.