Institutionalization of Womens Participation in Forest Governance

Abstract

The existence of a symbiotic relationship between forest and the indigenous communities is a newline well-known fact. On one hand, the forest fulfils the social, economic, political, and ritualistic newline needs of the indigenous communities and on the other hand, the communities sustain the newline world s biodiversity by using their traditional ecological knowledge in the forest management. newline The new discourse of development suggests that the forest and the communities that manage newline the forest together can achieve food and nutritional security, poverty reduction, ecological newline continuity, and sustainable development. However, with an increase in degradation of forest newline due to processes like statization, commercialization, and diversion of the forest towards newline development activities the indigenous communities are losing their rights on access and newline ownership over the forest and forest resources. The process of forest degradation has mostly newline affected women who throughout history have played a significant role in land management, newline community governance, and environmental sustainability. newline Following the above context and focusing specifically on the women of the Dongria newline Kandha community, this research has three major objectives; firstly, the research evaluates newline changing nature of gender relationships within the community due to the changing nature of the newline forest and intervention from state and non-state actors. Secondly, it studies the impact of forest newline legislation on the socio-economic and political lives of women. Thirdly, it understands the newline methods through which Kandha women are evolving adaptive community forest management newline processes as a strategic resilience against the mainstream development processes. newline The research was conducted in the Rayagada district, which is situated in the newline southwestern part of Odisha. The whole district comes under the Fifth Schedule of the newline Constitution, which is administered under the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act. newline 55.99 per cent of the population in the district comprises of various tribal groups among which newline Kandhas and Sauras form the dominant tribal communities. Despite being a resource-rich newline district, the incident of poverty is quite high in the district. According to the state human newline development index, the district ranks 25th out of the 30 districts of the state that reflects on the newline lower levels of health, education, and living standard of its population. newline The research is qualitative in nature. It has used an in-depth interview, historical newline institutionalism, and case study as methods of the data collection. Using an in-depth interview, newline this research analyzes the emerging changes in the forest and their effect on gender relation. newline With historical institutionalism, the research traces down the history of the enactment of the newline forest legislation in Odisha and its impact on socio-economic and political lives of women. In newline addition to that, with the use of case study method, the research has studied the adaptive newline xiii newline community forest management that the Dongria Kandha women have evolved as the resilient newline strategy against the degradation of forest and onslaught of mainstream development paradigm. newline The research highlights that fact that FRA as progressive forest legislation has the newline ability to empower women in relation to their access and rights over the forest. Moreover, if newline efficiently implemented, it can provide women with various livelihood options, contribute newline towards sustainable forest management, and address the larger rural distress. However, despite newline including the idea of gender mainstreaming, FRA fails to take into account the local sociocultural newline systems, the existing gender differences within the community, and the problems the newline women face in joining the male-dominated institutions. Further, the non-implementation of this newline policy has not only deepened the patriarchal values but has also dispossessed women from the newline traditional power they held over the forest. The research further emphasizes that the newline conceptualization and implementation of many schemes and developmental plans have an newline adverse impact on the Kandha samaj. Therefore as a resistance against the imposition of newline mainstream development processes, Dongria women in the community are evolving different newline methods of adaptive community forest management, which are based on ecological principles newline like sustaining biodiversity and conserving energy. The research understands that building newline effective institutions and gender-sensitive forest policies can enhance the capability of the newline Dongria Kandha women in asserting their traditional knowledge vis-a-vis the ecological newline functioning and forest management. newline