For tribes, for nature, for all humanity Illegal evictions from India’s tiger reserves The officials from the reserve forced us to leave Subelal Dhurwey, Baiga tribe Evicted from Kanha Tiger Reserve, India 01 Illegal evictions from Indian Tiger Reserves Contents Introduction 02 What does national law say? 04 How is national law being violated? 06 Violations of international law and commitments 16 Involvement of international conservation organisations 17 Conclusion 18 References 20 02 Illegal evictions from Indian Tiger Reserves Introduction Tribal communities living in Indian tiger reserves are being We were one of the last families illegally evicted from their ancestral homelands in the name of to resist. But the officials from conservation. Tiger conservationists insist that these evictions the reserve forced us to leave. are “voluntary relocations” but as this legal analysis proves, in They told us they’d take care many cases they are forced and therefore illegal. of us for three years, but they didn’t do a thing. Even when my Over 100,000 people have already been removed from brother was killed, no one came protected areas in India.1 In 2016, the head of the National to help us Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) announced that almost Subelal Dhurwey, a young Baiga man 300,000 people, from over 700 villages, are also earmarked for whose brother, Sukhdev Dhurwey, was 2 murdered after being evicted relocation. A further three to four million people live inside India’s Kanha Tiger Reserve protected areas and wildlife corridors with the threat of eviction hanging over them.3 Millions more have been deprived fully or 4 partially of their sources of livelihood and survival. The Forest Rights Act is not 5 being respected. People are Relocations are still planned in more than 35 tiger reserves, being expelled from the forest including Achanakmar (in the state of Chhattisgarh), Amrabad without being consulted (Telangana), Nagarhole (Karnataka), Kaziranga (Assam) and Similipal (Odisha), disproportionately affecting tribal people, Pranab Doley, activist from the Mising tribe Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Adivasis, from tribes including the Chenchu, Mising, Jenu Reserve Kuruba and Baiga. If Adivasis’ land is stolen, all of their rights are violated, because their land provides food and housing and is also the foundation of their identity, belief system and sense of belonging. Evictions are in breach of Adivasis’ constitutional rights, including their rights to a secure livelihood, to practice their religion and to protect their culture. National laws to protect Adivasis’ land and forest rights are poorly implemented and willfully ignored. Survival’s analysis of the law demonstrates how forced evictions are illegal under both national and international law. While tribal people are evicted from their lands in the name of tiger conservation, fee paying tourists are welcomed in. Destructive industries, such as plantations and mining are also allowed. In 2019 the central government approved exploration for uranium ore in Amrabad Tiger Reserve, whilst Chenchu families living there were told to leave their homes to create an inviolate space for tigers. While some communities may wish to relocate, many, especially those most closely connected to the forest, do not. Forest 03 Illegal evictions from Indian Tiger Reserves officials claim that people have “agreed” to be relocated yet they We see the well-being of the often use coercion, harassment, false promises and threats and forest as our duty, we protect do not inform people of their right to say no. the animals and plants of this wild forest without harming The Adivasis who live in India’s tiger reserves have managed, them. This forest is our home. protected and depended upon these lands for countless The flora and fauna of this generations. This is why their forests are so appealing to forest are part of our family conservationists. Open letter from Chenchu of the Nallamala forest Amrabad Tiger Tribal people are the best guardians of their lands and should Reserve be at the forefront of efforts to help protect it. However, as this report shows, they are bearing the costs of an ill-conceived and ineffective model of conservation that must urgently be changed. 04 Illegal evictions from Indian Tiger Reserves What does national law say? Provisions of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) The real truth is that they have been evicted by force. They The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers have been beaten (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (known as the FRA) recognizes tribal people’s individual and community rights to JK Thimma, Jenu Kuruba leader talking about people who were their land, including the sustainable use of forest products. It also “voluntarily relocated” Nagarhole recognizes “habitat rights” for those categorized as Particularly Tiger Reserve Vulnerable Tribal Groups, such as the Baiga or Chenchu. It recognizes the right of tribal people “to protect, regenerate, or conserve or manage any community forest resource, which they No, we don’t want to leave, but have been traditionally protecting and conserving.” again and again people are Section 4(2) states that forest rights holders can only be resettled putting pressure on us to leave from “critical wildlife habitats” if all the following conditions are Baiga father threatened with eviction met: Achanakmar Tiger Reserve • Their rights must first be recognized and recorded; • The government has established that the community is irreversibly harming wildlife and coexistence is not possible; • A resettlement and rehabilitation package must have been prepared which offers a secure livelihood for the community; • The community must give its free and informed consent, in writing, both to the resettlement and the proposed rehabilitation package. This must be done by the council of all adults in the village, known as the Gram Sabha. • The rehabilitation facilities and land allocation must be complete. Any “voluntary relocation” which does not fulfil the above conditions is, therefore, an illegal eviction. Provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act (WLPA) In 2006, the Wildlife (Protection) Act was amended to recognize the rights of tribal peoples. Section 38V(5) of the Amendment states: “No Scheduled Tribes or other forest dwellers shall be resettled or have their rights adversely affected for the purpose of creating inviolate areas for tiger conservation” unless certain conditions are met. These clauses are similar to those in the Forest Rights Act, with the additional provision that the consent of the community must be gained to assess whether they are causing irrevocable harm and whether coexistence is possible. Any relocations that take place without the agreement of both the individuals concerned and the whole community are, therefore, illegal evictions. 05 Illegal evictions from Indian Tiger Reserves The Indian Constitution and PESA We are told this is a tiger reserve, you can’t stay here, you India’s tribal peoples are protected under the Constitution as can’t build new houses, we are “Scheduled Tribes” and by the Provisions of the Panchayats not allowed to conduct Gram (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, commonly known as Sabhas PESA, which refers specifically to the “Scheduled Areas” (areas Husain Swamy, Chenchu activist where the tribal population is more than 50%). PESA states that Amrabad Tiger Reserve the Gram Sabha (village council) is the appropriate body for making the important decisions that affect tribal communities and is “competent to safeguard and preserve the traditions The Forest Department people and customs” of the people. It should be consulted before any came and said: “Orders came relocations or land acquisition and should “approve of the plans, from above and you are going programmes and projects for social and economic development to be evicted from here” before such plans, programmes and projects are taken up for Sarhau Baiga, Baiga farmer, forbidden implementation.” from farming his land in Achanakmar Tiger Reserve Achanakmar Tiger The Gram Sabha should, therefore, be the body which decides Reserve (freely and without coercion) what should happen to the community, its land and future. Evictions which bypass the Gram Sabha are therefore unconstitutional. Any relocation which bypasses the Gram Sabha is, therefore, an illegal eviction. The constitutional rights of Adivasis also include their rights to life, including an adequate means of livelihood (Article 21), to practice their religion and to protect their culture (Articles 39, 25 and 29). Any relocation process which violates these rights is therefore unconstitutional. 06 Illegal evictions from Indian Tiger Reserves How is national law being violated? Survival’s investigations into evictions from nine tiger reserves The Tribal Welfare Department, across seven states, show that the necessary legal processes the Forest Department and are not being carried out. The following summary looks at the the Revenue Department all provisions of the FRA and the WLPA and how they are being tell us that the Forest Rights Act doesn’t apply in the tiger violated. reserve 1. Forest rights are not being recognized and recorded prior Thokala Guruvaiah, Chenchu leader to any relocations (FRA and WLPA) Amrabad Tiger Reserve Prior to any relocation, forest rights processes must be followed, but many people interviewed by Survival have little We have been the ones that understanding of their forest rights, have not had them officially look out for tigers. You remove recognized and should, therefore, not have been relocated us, and you remove the tigers In many cases even the initial step of holding a Gram Sabha meeting was not taken before evictions occurred. Chenchu Madegowda C, Soliga activist BRT Tiger Reserve families from Amrabad Tiger Reserve have repeatedly been told by officials that forest rights don’t apply inside the tiger reserve. Villagers due to be relocated imminently from Achanakmar had never been told about their forest rights. Many applications for forest rights in tiger reserves have been ignored or rejected.