📌 Climate Impact on Forests!

The rich, natural forests of India were brought under “modern, scientific” forestry by the British in 1864. And with that the Indian tradition of seeing the forest as a community resource to be conserved and used sustainably was jettisoned. In its place came the commercial exploitation of the forest by the colonial rulers. Natural mixed forests used freely by locals for their personal needs and for incomes were replaced by commercial monocultures like teak, pine, and sal which were owned by the British.

Colonial exploitation of the forest was reversed when the Forest Rights Act, 2006 was enacted. This Act recognized that Adivasi and tribal communities as well as other traditional forest dwellers have the legal right to own, collect, use and sell minor forest produce, collectively known as Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) NTFPs include tendu leaves used for rolling bidis, mahua flowers and seeds, wild fruits and nuts, honey, tamarind, medicinal plants, herbs, bamboo and a variety of edible and useful forest products. For Adivasi and other forest-dwelling communities, these products have traditionally been part of their food, livelihoods and everyday lives.

But climate change is beginning to interfere with the seasonal and ecological processes on which these resources depend. A change in rainfall is affecting flowering so availability of Mahua flowers gets affected. Rising temperatures affect fruiting and seed production. Drought can reduce the availability of edible plants and wild fruits. Changes in temperature and moisture also affect major NTFPs such as honey and lac which are significant income sources for the tribal communities and forest dwellers.

These changes are already being felt .The forest may still be standing. Its canopy may even appear unchanged. But if the flowers do not bloom as before, if fruits become scarce, or if seasonal forest produce becomes unreliable, then the forest is no longer the livelihood supporting resource it used to be.

 📌 Forests taken away from the guardianship of forest dwellers.

In India as in other parts of the developing world, many communities call the forests their home and have lived there over generations. This community of forest dwellers have traditionally derived their livelihoods from the forest which has included forest produce and agriculture.

Colonial policies which used the forest as a timber resource have historically been antagonistic to forest dwellers. Later national policies declaring certain parts of the forest as protected areas, national parks and conservation zones put further pressure on forest dwelling communities forcing displacement and marginalization.

To undo these gross violations of the rights of forest communities, the Government of India enacted the Forest Rights Act in 2006. This law recognized the rights of forest communities to live on and cultivate ancestral forest land. It also gave them legal rights to collect and use Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) and also sell these collections. In recognition of their role in conserving the forest, The Forest Rights Act (FRA) granted forest dwellers the right to protect and manage community forest resources. In this way, the FRA made tribal communities the legal custodians of India’s most ecologically significant landscapes. But this did not last long.

In 2023, the government brought an amendment to the largely positive Forest Conservation Act 1980 which militates directly against the earlier rights granted to forest dwellers under the FRA 2006. The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023 has removed the mandatory clause that the Gram Sabha had to give its consent before any forest land could be diverted. This was the one institutional mechanism through which forest communities could exercise binding authority over their forests. By the treacherous amendment of 2023 amendment, this right was taken away, opening the forest to rampant exploitation.

https://theindiantribal.com/2026/05/15/weakening-tribal-forest-rights-could-undermine-indias-climate-commitments-and-carbon-sink-targets/