Short description of the best practice

Use of the Forest Rights Act to get the village their forest area’s tenure rights. Impart knowledge to the villager about Forest Rights Act and its provision. Hold capacity building and knowledge dissemination workshop with all stakeholders including forest department officials for operationalisation of the act. All these processes are directed towards getting people take interest in regeneration of the forest. Example- through Joint Forest Management (JFM)

Location

75 Villages, Udaipur Rajasthan, India|

Brief description of the natural environment within the specified location.

The average rainfall in Jhadol area ranges from 450mm to 650mm.  Summer season is very hot, maximum temperature goes up to 46 C|
Mainly hilly
Loamy and Rocky

Prevailing socio-economic conditions of those living in the location and/or nearby

Most of the households have their own land or patta in the village
Most of the households are Below Poverty Line (BPL) families

On the basis of which criteria and/or indicator(s) (not related to The Strategy) the proposed practice and corresponding technology has been considered as 'best'?

Consensus evolved during the National Consultation process.

Main problems addressed by the best practice

Encroachment of forest areas leading to degradation of land - Since this process and the end objective is totally fair and invites officials to verify the claim, there is public will to prevent future encroachment in the area. |Conflict between villagers and forest department - Giving community right to the village means the relationships between village vis-a-viz the gram panchayat in future will be strengthened with regard to conflict management and decision making.|Protection of forest resources- With ownership of the area, generally comes a sense of responsibility for the area. Hence the proper protection and management of the community forests  will be done

Outline specific land degradation problems addressed by the best practice

With little or no control of village community over its forest area and its produce, a section of the community is left with no choice but to overuse the land produce. There is also the issue of overgrazing of livestock and encroachment. So lack of management of the forest area.|

Specify the objectives of the best practice

To get the tenure rights|In the process of getting the rights, increase the capacity of the stakeholders

Brief description of main activities, by objective

The workers involved in the process and also the officials will get sensitize with the issue and there will be sharing of knowledge. Hence to achieve this we had a project on the operationalisation of the Forest Rights Act 2006 in the year 2008 in partnership with SDC. |Arranged many workshops with different stakeholders and at various platforms.
Follow the procedure as given in the Forest Right Act to get the tenure right. This involves holding Gram Sabha in the village plus verification of the site with patwari and Forest Department

Short description and technical specifications of the technology

The commons are protected from encroachment and degradation. Regeneration of forest can be done through plantation and protection. The tenure right will give the community a tool for management and protection of their respective forest areas over which they have only rights and concessions.

Name and address of the institution developing the technology

Seva Mandir|Old Fatehpura
Udaipur 313004
Rajasthan
India

Was the technology developed in partnership?

Yes

List the partners:

Van Utthan Sansthan|Sewa Mandir

Specify the framework within which the technology was promoted

• Local initiative

Was the participation of local stakeholders, including CSOs, fostered in the development of the technology?

Yes

List local stakeholders involved:

Village forest protection committee

For the stakeholders listed above, specify their role in the design, introduction, use and maintenance of the technology, if any.

The Application for Community Forest Rights included two components
• Application for the Use rights for usufruct from the forest produce
• Application for the support of existing rights over a particular area to develop and conserve it under JFM and Community Conserved Areas.

Was the population living in the location and/or nearby involved in the development of the technology?

Yes

By means of what?

• Participatory approaches

Specify:

Yes Initially in the form of the forest protection committee but later on in consultation with the Joint Committee on Forest Rights Act we applied in the name of the complete village population.

Describe on-site impacts (the major two impacts by category)

Fostering Community Cohesion as well as sensitization about the right to ownership and access to forest produce
Encouraging people to realize the need to conserve the ecology through regenerative measures as well as policy level initiatives like the application for community forest rights over certain developed or good forest areas.

Describe the major two off-site (i.e. not occurring in the location but in the surrounding areas) impacts

Learnings towards constructive activism to stave off dangers that come when the responsibilities of the community are being ignored. Therefore we would say how to illustrate the responsibilities when given to community can bear better returns than individual land distribution and dispute settlement.
Policy Level Spin-offs in terms of the methodology and the process followed in the same.

Impact on biodiversity and climate change

Explain the reasons:

Practice is to focus on community managed forests ecosystem by using the various policies that have been promugulated. The quality of forest is an insurance against the failures of mosoon for the marginal farmers as minor forest produce & moisture vaialibity due to green cover reduces vulnerabilty
Regeneration of forest through plantation and protection helps in mitigation of through carbon sequestration

Has a cost-benefit analysis been carried out?

Has a cost-benefit analysis been carried out?

No

Was the technology disseminated/introduced to other locations?

Was the technology disseminated/introduced to other locations?

Yes

Where?

Kherwara|Kotra

Replicability

In your opinion, the best practice/technology you have proposed can be replicated, although with some level of adaptation, elsewhere?

Yes

At which level?

• Local
• Sub-national