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Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch(AARM) demands proper implementation of Forest Right Act
TIWN July 30, 2019
Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch(AARM) demands proper implementation of Forest Right Act
PHOTO : MP Jitendra Chaudhury. TIWN File Photo.

AGARTALA / NEW DELHI, July 30 (TIWN): Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch(AARM) has demanded to stop facilitating to the corporate interests through the guise of creating new tiger/wildlife reserves : Implement the Forest Right Act. first in order to save both human being and wildlife.

 In a press note, Jitendra Chaudhury, National Convener of AARM and Chairman Dr. M.Babu Rao said, “Releasing the Status of Tiger Report, 2018 on the International Tiger Day (29 July 2019) the Prime Minister declared India as one of the ‘safest habitats” in the world. The Report, which is the fourth in the cycle of Tiger Census, showed an increase of 33 percent in the number of tigers from the year 2014, when the last census was conducted. Today the number of tigers is estimated at 2,967 individual tigers, which is approximately 741 more than the last census of 2014. The rise in the growth of number of tigers by 33 percent in the last 4 years is being represented as the “engine of growth” for the India because the tiger is meant to represent the health of the habitat. At the first hand AARM definitely join in the chorus to the increase of the country’s “National Animal”. But, simultaneously finds it ironical that the Government is marketing its achievement of increasing the tiger population, even while it fails to meet its commitments towards settling the land and forest rights of the millions of forest dependent Adivasi people”.

“That the Government has been taking over new forest lands for establishment of tiger and other reserves, without settling the rights of the forest dwellers, as stipulated in the Forest Rights Act  has now become a well-known reality. The Tiger Census only provides further evidence of this. However, such a perspective is a misrepresentation of facts because the report also shows that the tiger habitat is steadily degrading and tigers are occupying new forest areas and relinquishing old forest habitats. For example, the tigers have relinquished more than 40,000 hectares of forest land since 2014, but they also colonised more than 25,000 hectares of forests that have been not classed as tiger reserves. The net increase of ‘tiger free’ areas is about 17,881 hectares of forest land including 3 designated tiger reserves of Buxa (West Bengal), Dampa (Mizoram) and Palamau (Jharkhand).  The report shows that in Madhya Pradesh alone approximately 7 lakh hectares of forests have been newly colonised by tigers”.

“In this context the AARM considers it important to point out that past experience has shown that the data presented in this report will be used to declare new tiger reserves without settling the legitimate rights of the forest dwellers, even while regions that have been vacated by the tigers will be taken over by the Government to facilitate appropriation by corporate interests. In the light of this the AARM demands that all legitimate rights of the forest dwellers are settled under the Forest Rights Act before any new forests are declared as Critical Habitat for any kind of wildlife. It also demands that all such declared habitats i.e.; Tiger Reserve and Elephant Reserve etc. that have no wildlife species including tigers, be denotified as wildlife reserves and  the rights of adivasis over forest lands be restored and be fully recognised in these areas. This act would definitely bring harmony to the life, livelihood and existence of both human being and wildlife”.

The AARM once again reiterates that it will fight against all attempts to impose draconian forest laws and dilute implementation of the Forest Rights Act.

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