Lok Sabha Question No. 3819 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-22
Subject: Population of Forest Dwellers
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: MANOJ RAJORIA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3819

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.12.2015

## Population of Forest Dwellers

## 3819. DR. MANOJ RAJORIA:

Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS  AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) the total forest area in the country;
- (b) the details of villages dependent on forest or located on forest fringes and total population of such villages;
- (c) the total value of forest produce enjoyed by the said villages; and
- (d) the details of steps taken by the Government to support these population and protect the forest area ?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a) & (b)  As  per  India  State  of  Forest  Report  2015,  the  total  Recorded  Forest  Area  of  the country is        7, 64,566 square kilometers. As per National Forest Commission Report 2006, there is population of four crores living in 1.73 lakhs villages in or around the forest.
- (c)    People  living  in  and  around  these  forest  fringe  villages  depend  upon  forest  for  a  variety  of goods and services. These includes collection of edible fruits, flowers, tubers, roots and leaves for  food  and  medicines,  firewood  for  cooking  (some  also  sale  in  the  market),  materials  for agricultural implements, house construction and fencing, fodder) for livestock etc. The value of these produce village wise is not maintained at the Ministry level.
- (d) The  Ministry of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  is  implementing  National Afforestation Programme for sustainable development and management of forest resources in the country. The purpose of the scheme is rehabilitation of degraded forest and other areas by institutionalizing decentralized/participatory forest management and supplementing livelihoods  improvement  processes.  The  local  communities  living  in  and  around  in  these forest  fringe  villages  are  involved  in  protection  and  regeneration  of  forest  areas . Scheme is being  implemented  by  a  three-tier  institutional  set  up,  namely  State  Forest  Development Agency  (SFDA)  at  the  State/UT  level,  Forest  Development  Agencies  (FDAs)  at  the  forest division  level,  and  Joint  Forest  Management  Committees  (JFMCs)  or  Eco-development

Committees (EDCs) at the village level. The forest produce is shared with the communities as per the guidelines issued by respective State Governments.

Further, as a measure of social safety for Minor Forest Produce gatherers who are primarily members of scheduled tribes, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs launched a Centrally Sponsored Scheme  namely  'Mechanism  for  Marketing  of  Minor  Forest  Produce  (MFP)  through Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Development of Value Chain for MFP' from the year 2013-14 onwards. The Scheme seeks to establish a system to ensure fair monetary returns for their  efforts  in  collection,  primary  processing,  storage,  packaging,  transportation  etc.  The Scheme  also  seeks  to  provide  for  the  sharing  of  revenue  from  the  sale  proceeds  after deducting the cost. The scheme has been initially implemented in States having areas under schedule V for non-nationalized and abundantly available 12 MFP.

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