Government of India has issued under FRA titles for over 19 million acres. Land that has been won after tough long campaign by forest dwelling Adivasi communities in India. Today this land is under threat through the pincer effect of continued market induced economic distress, and Climate change threatening the mega biodiverse forest even as several state governments aims to achieve 30% forest coverage by 2030 and others conserve the forest they already have.
The situation presents both an opportunity in the context of emerging carbon market with a potential annual $100 million upwards tradeable, and a challenge to bridge the systemic gaps. The youth aspirations, higher education, digital penetration, and physical access in most parts, provides for an entrepreneurship development opportunity that is linked with conservation imperatives.
The continued colonial mindset towards the 700+ ethnically diverse groups, lack of respect and understanding of their values, hurried need to show "success" stories through impractical deadlines and targets, market pressure to grow production and profit in a unending linearity, and the never ending invasion into their cosmo-vision through short term political, and economic aims, renders enormous pressure the traditional first stewards of the forest.
"How can my business grow faster than the forest?", asked a Irula community elder some months back. "How are all these people given contracts to harvest forest produce with no respect to the plants, we never uproot them nor ever will we pluck leaf from a fruiting tree, but these outsiders don't have such a respect", said another women leader. "How can I explain you the 'expert' that I preserve diverse seeds because I may decide which variety to plant based on the weather in each season? While his idea of hybrids for efficient higher yields alienates me further from responding to the season and soil and monocultures my mind!", said a young seed saver. "Now they have these drones spraying the pesticides and weedicides from above, we observed honeybees dying", shared another member with concern. Communities with access to Forests across the country, have been reporting the reduction of bees population. "How do we sensitize the markets and State to our values?", was one of the collective questions posed last year when we sat with many of the community leaders in Central India at the invitation of Ekta Parishad, the largest network of land rights activists in India.
Since 2023, Team Samanvaya has been visiting, listening, and holding dialogues with diverse forest dwelling communities across the central and southern parts of the country to understand the challenges and promote conservation linked entrepreneurship.
Read about Samanvaya Status Report on FRA implementation in Tamil Nadu in 2016 here
The presentation on the Adivasi Entrepreneur Network, Nov 2023 here
Download the Conservation Linked Enterprises Report by Samanvaya, Aug 2024 here
Director, Samanvaya presentation in Social Impact Investor's Meet (SOCAP), California, Nov 2024 here