Community Rights & Community Forest Rights

Community Forest Rights (CFR) is central to Vasundhara’s work. We work extensively to secure the rights of forest-dependent communities through advocacy and programmatic endeavors. Vasundhara gives handholding support to several Community Forest Rights Management (CFM) committees under gramsabhas to effectively conserve and manage their forest lands. Vasundhara also engages with communities and the forest departments to prevent forest management that solely advocates commercial interests, like plantations of native and nonnative species. Vasundhara, through its knowledge of traditional management practices and biodiversity conservation, has put a stop to these activities in various places. Vasundhara facilitates capacity building of local communities for sustainable management of their forest resources using their traditional knowledge.

The Community Forest resource governance and management system in our intervention areas are organized by rotational patrolling between all the households involved. The Forest protection is headed by the president of CFR management committees constituted under Rule 4(1) (e) under FRA 2006. The CFR management committees are responsible for daily management of the protection system and enforcement of protection rules approved by Gramsabhas and conflicts resolution. Gram Sabhas emphasize that women members share greater responsibilities for management and governance of CFR areas within the legal framework. Vasundhara has strengthened the Gram Sabha level CFR management process in 1003 villages, empowering them to take their own decision......