FROM POLICING TO PARTICIPATION

By M. Smithy
Kerala’s Forest Department hardly slaps any case against the residents of Sathram Colony of the Periyar Tiger Reserve area nowadays. Earlier, a number of large cases used to be filed against them. About 64 of the 133 families were engaged in vayana bark (Cinnamomum sp.) collection for their livelihood. This not only affected the biodiversity of the forest but caused deforestation as well. But the case is different now. The people there not only stopped deforestation activities but took to conserving the forest on their own. This could be possible with the setting up of the Eco Development Committees (E.D.Cs).
Mannakudy and Paliyakudy Tribal settlements are the other areas where marked changes are seen due to the performance of E.D.Cs. Almost all the 152 families there were engaged in collecting forest produce from the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Some among them were cultivating pepper and other commodities in their land but they never prospered. E.D.Cs have changed the situation now. They are earning around one crore each for the last three years from their crops. The old profession of collecting wood and other forest produce for livelihood does not exist any longer. The basic idea of this new initiative is to ensure the local people’s participation in conservation efforts.
The Eco Development Project was implemented in seven areas of the country on an experimental basis. Other than the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala, it was implemented in Nagarhoe National Park, Karnataka, Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, Gir National Park, Gujarat, Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, Palamau Tiger Reserve, Jharkhand and Baksa Tiger Reserve, West Bengal. The International Development Agency released 42 per cent of the amount as loan while 30 per cent was given by Global Eco Facility as grant. The Central and State governments released 10 per cent and 12 per cent respectively with a condition that the benefactors should invest six per cent of the total investment. The E.D.Cs, which started functioning in 1996, were supposed to go ahead for five years in the same set up and to continue functioning after that in a participatory manner.
The E.D.Cs were successful because they respected the basic realities during its functioning. The trend to ignore the basic realities is a very big hurdle during the efforts to conserve bio-diversity. One side will be trying its best to conserve forests and wildlife while the other will be to oppose by all possible means the people who are still dependent on forest for their livelihood. Conservationists believed that the administration has the power to prevent deforestation and maintain bio-diversity. But the question regarding the future of people who have been dependent on forest produce for their living for ages was neglected or forgotten during such planning. Hence, the Eco Development Programme also considered the worries of the common man living around the forest area.
The EDCs constituted at the village-level were helpful in upgrading status of the people. No other agency than the village-level E.D.Cs could have paved the way for the positive changes in the Mannakudy and Paliyakudy tribal colonies. People in these colonies kept 10 cents to three acres of land in their possession. They used to cultivate pepper and other crops. They got money only for their daily needs from fishing in the forest area and collection of firewood. They sold pepper but were cheated every time. Along with this, the trap of local finance rackets made their life more miserable. The very first step of the village-level EDC established here was to free people from mounting debts. The loan released in connection with the World Food Programme was spent on this purpose. The sale of pepper was bought under the EDC set-up for proper trading and fair price for the product. This made a ground-breaking change in the community. The people who were incurring only cumulative debts and loss of esteem started yielding profit from pepper. It was for the first time that they got market price for their agricultural produce. On some occasions they got more than the prevailing market price as they got into the market en masse with more bargaining power. Another step taken by the E.D.C. was to avoid unnecessary spending of the money received from pepper sales. The joint bank accounts opened in the name of husband and wife of almost every family was a welcome step in this direction. It helped them spend the money properly.
(April 2004 )