State Govt plans to implement CFR in tribal habitats soon

Move aims to provide livelihood to tribal communities in the State

Hyderabad: The Tribal Welfare Department is planning to implement Community Forest Resource (CFR) rights to provide livelihood to tribal communities in the State.

By providing Community Forest Resource rights to the tribal habitats, the local population will be able to take up fish farming in local ponds and waterholes, grow grass in the plains and use it as fodder for cattle, and take up horticulture in the vacant lands.

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The Tribal Welfare Department is studying the implementation of CFR rights in States such as Maharashtra, Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, which are achieving good results through the implementation of these rights.

The department officials are planning to approach Bengaluru based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), which is effectively implementing the scheme in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, to get firsthand information about the implementation of the CFR in Telangana.

According to Tribal Welfare Department officials, the implementation of CFR is low in Telangana and that in the past, 3,000 applications were received, but only 700 CFRs were issued. The tribal department has found that there were up to 2,700 habitats in the State where CFR is not being implemented.

It is learnt that there is potential of setting up at least 2 to 7 CFR per habitat in the tribal region of the State. The tribal department is examining the community resources and their areas on the basis of revenue records, maps and satellite images. The Tribal Welfare Department has proposed to implement the CFR with the cooperation of the Forest and Revenue Departments.

The CFR rights, along with Community Rights (CRs) under Sections 3(1)(b) and 3(1)(c) of the Forest Act 2006, which include nistar rights and rights over non-timber forest products, ensure sustainable livelihoods of the community. It strengthens the conservation regime of the forests while ensuring livelihood and food security of the Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribe (FDST) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs).

Once CFRR is recognised by a community, the ownership of the forest passes into the hands of the Gram Sabha instead of the Forest department. These rights give authority to the Gram Sabha to adopt local traditional practices of forest conservation and management within the community forest resource boundary, officials said.