Consider the following statements:
- As per recent amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927, forest dwellers have the right to fell the bamboos grown on forest areas.
- As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, bamboo is a minor forest produce.
- The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 allows ownership of minor forest produce to forest dwellers.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
Explanation
Statement 1 is incorrect
- An amendment was made in 2017-18 in the Indian Forest Act of 1927 to remove bamboo from the category of trees. With this minor modification, bamboo grown in non-forest areas will not require a transit permit (TP) and other legal permits for felling and transportation, from the forest department.
- However, bamboo grown in the forest would continue to require a TP and other legal permits.
Statement 2 is correct
- Minor Forest Produce (MFP) is a subset of forest produce and got a definition only in 2007 when the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, was enacted. Section 2(i) of the said Act defines a Minor Forest Produce (MFP) as all non-timber forest produce of plant origin and includes bamboo, brushwood, stumps, canes, Tusser, cocoon, honey, waxes, Lac, tendu/kendu leaves, medicinal plants and herbs, roots, tubers, and the like.
Statement 3 is correct
- The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, popularly known as the Forest Rights Act (FRA), was enacted in 2007. The Act recognises and vests individual forest-dwellers with forest rights to live in and cultivate forest land that was occupied before 13 December 2005, and grants community forest rights to manage, protect, and regenerate the forest, and to own and dispose of minor forest products from forests where they had traditional access.
- Individuals, communities and gram sabhas have rights under this Act, which will not only give them the right to use but also the right of ownership over MFPs.
