Introduction of The Wildlife Protection (Amendment) BILL, 2013 in India

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The Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2013 was recently introduced in India in order to facilitate stricter enforcement of laws to protect wildlife, in view of the increase in wildlife crime. The proposed amendments, as listed in the Statement of Objects and Reasons, relate to prohibition on use of animal traps except under certain circumstances, requirement of a grant of permit for scientific research, increase in punishment for wildlife offenses, making exemptions to allow certain activities such as grazing or movement of livestock and bona fide use of drinking and household water by local communities, and protection of hunting rights of the Scheduled Tribes in the Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Lists of flora and fauna are sought to be inserted for purposes of regulation of international trade under Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in order to fulfill India’s international obligation to bring in necessary legislative changes to facilitate implementation of the CITES given that India is a party to the said Convention.

The proposed Amendments have raised certain apprehensions. It has been mentioned that consultations with the Gram Sabha will take place before declaring any Scheduled Area as a National Park. However, provisions containing the requirement for monitoring of such consultations are missing, and this is liable to lead to severe gaps in accountability.

Critique of stricter penalty for offenses relating to tiger reserves

• The punishment for hunting in a tiger reserve or altering the boundaries of a tiger reserve has been increased to imprisonment of at least 7 years and also with fine of at least 5 lakh rupees up to 30 lakh rupees.
• Simply increasing punishment will not achieve the objective of curtailing wildlife crime, and in fact may actually deter courts from sentencing offenders given the harshness of punishment, which would lead to a fall in the already low rates of conviction, and defeat the objective of the amendment.
• The language of the proposed amendment, unlike the language of the current Act, singles out tiger reserves. This has sparked great dissatisfaction especially amongst lion conservationists, who argue that both the Indian tiger and the Asiatic lion have been listed in the category of endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Critique of grant of permit for scientific research

• The Chief Wildlife Warden has been empowered to grant a permit to any person to conduct scientific research upon application being made and certain conditions being satisfied. Concerns have been raised that even petty offences like simple trespass and/or minor research/tourist permit condition violation would lead to a minimum imprisonment of 3 years and fine, and that a student might be jailed for a minor breach.
• Researchers have argued that the amendment would lead to unjustified bureaucratic interference with research as decided by a Forest Official. They feel that the government should not be given such a high degree of control over the kind of ecological and conservation research that may be conducted in the country.

The full text of the Bill is available for download here. For more information, please contact our team in India at arpitha@naturaljustice.org.

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Eighth Meeting of Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity Being Held Montreal

From 7 to 11 October 2013, the Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (Working Group) will hold its eighth meeting in Montreal, Canada. Several important items are on the agenda this year, including whether to adopt the terminology "indigenous peoples and local communities" (Agenda Item 5); consideration of a draft plan of action on customary sustainable use of biological diversity (Agenda Item 4(a)); consideration of best practice guidelines regarding repatriation of traditional knowledge (Agenda Item 4(b); and potential revision of tasks 7, 10 and 12 of the programme of work on implementation of Article 8(j) (Agenda Item 4(c)). In addition, a number of side events will be held during the meeting addressing a wide variety of topics and issues relevant to Article 8(j) and related provisions of the Convention. Eli Makagon of Natural Justice will be attending and presenting on Natural Justice's work in this area. For more information, see the meeting documents, and follow IISD's coverage of the event, as well as Natural Justice's blog and Twitter feed. 

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Workshop on the Forests Rights Act in Odisha

 A workshop was held on the “Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 and Amendment Rules 2012” for Panchayatraj Representatives at Laxmanpur Block Office, Laxmanpur, District Sambalpur, Odisha, India on October 3rd 2013. The workshop was organized by Loksaktimukti Sanghathan, a non-registered organisaton, in collaboration with Vasundhara, Bhubaneswar and Natural Justice. The Laxmanpur Block Development Officer was present at the workshop on behalf of the government. Mr Ananto Panda from Loksaktimukti Sangathan briefly explained the background and purpose of Forest rights act and rules in the workshop. Ms Pspanjali Satapathy from Vasundhara organization elaborated on the entire act, its rules and usage. She opined in the workshop that for the first time in India, the forest rights act recognizes people who live in and depend on the forest. The maximum number of Adivasis live in the forest area and they depend on it for their regular livelihood. Adivasis naturally live with the forest and save the forest. They also use forest products for their common diseases. The Adivasis and Non Adivasis who depend on and live in the forest can apply under this act for recognition of their rights over their homestead, cultivable land, non cultivable land and use of forest products. 

The act recognizes two kinds of rights. One is family rights and the other is community rights over forests. The recognition process begins at the village level through the forest right committee. The forest rights committee members are from among their village where they decide who actually lives and depends on the forest. Before this act the government called them encroachers in the forest area. This act provides maximum powers to Gram Sabha and also it defines the terms “Gram Sabha” and “Palli Sabha”. 

The Sambalpur District Welfare Officer Ms. Mamata Parida informed the workshop that recently the District Collector directed all the Tahasildars to implement the Forest rights act and it’s amendment rules on the lines of community rights over forest land. The government is in the process of providing community rights over forest land. Ms Puspanjali Satapathy said that the Kendu Patra and Bambo are coming under Grama Sabha rights and no need to fear the sale of these two things. The act and rules also cover displacement. The Forest Rights Committee should constitute according to carom. For example, a forest rights constituted with 10 persons among them 7 persons must be Adivasis and 3 persons must be females belong to adivasis. Kishore Kumar Patnaik (Fellow, Natural Justice) emphasized how to get the record of rights on forest land under the forest right act and rules and it’s legal values on environmental issues. The Panchayat representatives and people from different villages participated in the workshop. Around 90 persons from different Panchayats participated in the workshop. The participants interacted and clarified their doubts with the government officials and organizers. They anguished in words why there is a lot of delay to recognize the land rights and also why people are not able to get a piece of land to stay whereas the industries are able to get hundreds of acres immediately without any hassles and hindrances. The workshop concluded with the vote of thanks by a member of Loksakti Mukti Sangathan.

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Environmentalism Workshop in Himachal, India

From 27th September to 3rd October, Stella James (Natural Justice) attended a workshop on Environmentalism in India: Building Perspectives and Sharing Strategies which was conducted by the Sambhaavnaa Institute of Public Policy (Sambhaavnaa) and Corporate Accountability Desk, at the Sambhaavnaa campus in Kandbari village, Himachal Pradesh, India. 

The programme began with a field visit to Nalagarh, along with activists of Himdhara, an environment research and action group in Himachal. Nalagarh is an industrial town at the foothills of the Himalayas, described by some as the “Himalayan wastebin”. With many major industries in the area, the river which is the lifeline of the town has been polluted with waste of all sorts including surgical equipment from pharmaceutical industries. Moreover extensive unchecked sand mining from the river bed has lowered the depth of the water to almost a quarter of its previous levels. 

The main workshop was spread over 6 days, divided into daily sessions on different themes. One day was used to set the context, and laid out the controversial history of environmentalism in India. On other days we were encouraged to challenge many of our ideas, including a session that dealt with challenging our notions of the validity and impartiality of science, especially with regard to use of science in environment conservation. The group also spent some time analyzing specific cases – the ongoing resistance against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamilnadu, and a run-of-the-river hydel power project coming up on part of the Beas river – looking at the different issues in these projects, especially how different normative frames of thought are created and destroyed when challenging ‘development’ projects. Strategies used by the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal in their struggle against the callousness of Dow Chemicals and the government of India, were shared; especially interesting was the use of humour/satire and drama in capturing media attention and creating public opinion. 

The workshop had young people from many different fields, and was a great exercise in perspective building. 

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Civil Society Newsletter on Biodiversity Features Two Articles by Natural Justice

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is known for being relatively open to civil society engagement. As just one example, the CBD Alliance and CBD Secretariat jointly produce a newsletter called [square brackets] ahead of major CBD meetings. The eighth issue has just been released to coincide with the upcoming meetings of the Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions (7-11 October) and the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (14-18 October).

This issue of [square brackets] includes articles on "The Nagoya Protocol and the emergence of biocultural rights" by former Natural Justice Association member Kabir Bavikatte, on the proposal for the CBD to adopt the term "indigenous peoples" by Caroline de Jong (Forest Peoples Programme) and Holly Jonas (Natural Justice), and on the need for strengthened implementation of the CBD by S. Faizi (CBD Alliance Chairperson). The eighth issue of [square brackets] can be downloaded here.

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New Paper on Resource Conflict Prevention References Community Protocols

A new paper by the Quaker United Nations Office entitled "Building peace around water, land and food: Policy and practice for preventing conflict" highlights the fundamental importance of securing natural resources on which our survival and well-being depend in the face of climate change and increasing conflict and competition over resources. It also focuses on the need to strengthen peace-building skills among actors at all levels (including effective communication and engagement with decision-making processes and constructive dispute prevention and resolution) and cites relevant international instruments that can help prevent conflict through inclusive natural resource governance and management.

One of the case studies explored the development and use of a biocultural community protocol to negotiate community resource rights in the Potato Park in Peru. The paper also references Natural Justice's Biocultural Community Protocols: A toolkit for community facilitators and the 2012 special edition of the Participatory Learning and Action Journal on community protocols, rights and consent, which was co-edited by Natural Justice, among others (also available in Spanish). Please download and share this new paper here.

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ASEAN Heritage Parks Conference

Harry Jonas (Natural Justice) is attending the Fourth ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHP) Conference from 1-4 October in the Philippines. Participants will discuss how to achieve international biodiversity targets and identify opportunities for international cooperation. Thematic sessions include: effective management of protected areas; biodiversity and climate change; integrating biodiversity values; ecotourism, business and biodiversity; and indigenous and local communities in protected areas. 

Notably, the ASEAN Declaration on Heritage Parks was agreed and signed by the environment ministers of the 10 ASEAN Member States in December 2003 in Yangon, Myanmar. There are more than 32 ASEAN Heritage Parks in the region, including Kinabalu Park (Sabah Malaysia) about which Harry will speak. For more information, see here.

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