Resisting Rights: Forest Bureaucracy and the Tenure Transition in India

Springate-Baginski, Oliver; Sarin, Madhu; Reddy, M. Gopinath

doi:10.1007/s11842-012-9219-x

Cited by 23 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Firstly, because of the large numbers of poor people living in forested areas who are affected by policies advocating decentralised forest management (Springate-Baginski et al, 2012;Sunderlin et al, 2005) and secondly, as since the 1980s there has been a proliferation of NGOs working on development issues. This trend was propelled by the growth of decentralisation policies (such as the Indian National Forest Policy of 1988), shifts in the development discourse away from state driven developmentalism towards bottom-up society-led development (Ghosh, 2009;Baviskar, 2001) and critique of the regulatory top-down approaches of the Forest Department (Ghate, 2003).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making it last? Analysing the role of NGO interventions in the development of institutions for durable collective action in Indian community forestry

Barnes

Laerhoven

2015

Environmental Science & Policy

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Institutional design India a b s t r a c tCommons scholarship seems preoccupied with self-governance. It focuses on showing that common pool resource (CPR) appropriators do not always need outsider-assistance in order to stay clear of the tragedy of the commons. However, at the same time we observe the presence of a large number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that consider community organisation -i.e. the organisation of collective action in community institutions -their core business. In this research we firstly develop and apply a framework to analyse the activities of 20 NGOs in India and compare these to indicators for collective action in a community-led CPR governance context, derived from the commons literature. Secondly, we assess variation in NGOs' approaches to institutional change, by developing and applying a typology that distinguishes between (i) perspectives that see institutional change as predominantly determined by structure (institutional design) or agency (institutional crafting), respectively, and between (ii) perspectives that perceive institutions as either subjective or objective to the institutional change agent, respectively. Our results show that NGOs do not get involved in activities aimed at influencing functioning collective action such as crafting or designing rules. They do involve themselves in activities aimed at strengthening durable collective action such as forest management trainings. Furthermore, all NGOs show a predominantly subjective approach to institutional change. Their long-term focus puts the communities themselves firmly in the institutional change agent position. The results along the design-crafting dimension show more diversity and dynamicity. Eight NGOs in our sample take a strong institutional crafting approach to their work, whereas only three focus predominantly on institutional design and nine show elements of both crafting and designing. The majority of the NGOs highlighted how their approach can change depending on the stage in the intervention. Our results highlight the dynamic and diverse institutional settings the NGOs operate in which both moderates their approach to institutional change and determines their choice of specific activities.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making it last? Analysing the role of NGO interventions in the development of institutions for durable collective action in Indian community forestry

Barnes

Laerhoven

2015

Environmental Science & Policy

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“…Secondly, we see that CSCs were greatly influential in the policy design stage with people's movements, activists and leftleaning politicians and academics federating under the banner Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD) (Gopalakrishnan, 2012a;Kashwan, 2013;Kumar & Kerr, 2012). Thirdly, the pro-FRA CSC, centered around the CSD, was not completely satisfied with the final provisions in the FRA (Bhullar, 2008) as they had been watered down by parliament (Springate-Baginski, Sarin, & Reddy, 2013). We can therefore reasonably expect that this CSC would continue to attempt to influence FRA implementation after the FRA Rules were passed in 2008.…”

Section: Research Design (A) Case Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advocating for Change? How a Civil Society-led Coalition Influences the Implementation of the Forest Rights Act in India

2016

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Forest policy implementation is a political endeavor involving both state and non-state actors. We observe that civil society organizations (CSOs) often federate into civil society-led coalitions (CSCs) in order to shape forest policies in their favor. They appear to be successful in doing this during the policy design phase but we know little about whether they are able to see through to implementation the changes they have put in motion. Analyzing CSC strategies during policy implementation could help to explain variation in the extent to which forest policies are successfully implemented. This paper analyzes the strategy choices and potential impact during policy implementation of a loose CSC comprised of CSOs, activists, people's movements, researchers, and lawyers that advocates for the full implementation of the Forest Rights Act in India. Drawing from the Advocacy Coalition Framework's focus on belief systems, complemented by insights from political ecology and civil society/social movements literature, we develop a framework to analyze CSC strategy choices. Our analysis is conducted at the national level and in two states, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. We employ qualitative research methods, including 38 interviews with CSC and non-CSC members, and a comprehensive analysis of the main CSC listserv and 1000 relevant English language newspaper articles. Our study reveals that the CSC employs a range of conflictive and collaborative strategies in its attempts to influence state-led implementation processes, at both national and state levels. It draws on a loose, heterogeneous network with ability to connect internally and a clear moral justification of its involvement in FRA implementation. However the diverse range of views on the implementation issues held by CSC members, lack of dedicated funding for coordination, limited legitimacy in the eyes of some state actors and a constricting wider institutional setting, impedes the CSC's ability to make coalition-level strategy decisions. Our results lead us to argue that CSCs are undoubtedly active in forest policy implementation at the national level and in the two states analyzed, though limited coordination of strategies potentially restricts their impact on the policy implementation process.

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“…Collection of natural resources is permitted, but private agricultural use is not. The efficiency and inclusiveness of Forest User Groups varies 70 but there is strong evidence that that some individuals gain diverse benefits from resources extracted in CUAs 71 . In Hukaung Valley, agricultural and gold mining companies have restricted community access to natural resources, both through destruction of forest within CUAs and the eviction of some communities and households 67 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of gold mining and agricultural concessions on the tree cover and local communities in northern Myanmar

Papworth

Rao

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Myanmar offers unique opportunities for both biodiversity conservation and foreign direct investment due to projected economic growth linked to natural resource exploitation. Industrial-scale development introduces new land uses into the landscape, with unknown repercussions for local communities and biodiversity conservation. We use participatory mapping of 31 communities, focus groups in 28 communities, and analyses of forest cover change during 2000–2010 using MODIS vegetation continuous fields images, to understand the social and environmental impacts of gold mining and agricultural concessions in Myanmar’s Hukaung Valley (~21,800 km2). Local communities, particularly the poorest households, benefit from work and trade opportunities offered by gold mining and agricultural companies but continue to depend on forests for house construction materials, food, and income from the sale of forest resources. However, gold mining and agricultural concessions reduce tree cover, potentially reducing access to forest resources and further marginalizing these households. Our analyses do not provide evidence that long-term resident communities contributed to forest cover loss between 2000 and 2010. We argue that landscape management, which recognizes local community rights to customary community use areas, and appropriate zoning for commercial land uses and protected areas could contribute to both local livelihoods and protect biodiversity throughout Myanmar during economic growth.

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Resisting Rights: Forest Bureaucracy and the Tenure Transition in India

Cited by 23 publications

References 6 publications

Making it last? Analysing the role of NGO interventions in the development of institutions for durable collective action in Indian community forestry

Making it last? Analysing the role of NGO interventions in the development of institutions for durable collective action in Indian community forestry

Advocating for Change? How a Civil Society-led Coalition Influences the Implementation of the Forest Rights Act in India

The impact of gold mining and agricultural concessions on the tree cover and local communities in northern Myanmar

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