Commonly perceived as rights of local forest dwellers over forest products and forest land, forest rights have been a major area of concern as well as debate in India. In colonial and independent India, although a large tract of land would be recorded as “unclassed” forest in Government records, ownership was unclear, and because most of these forests were home to a large number of tribals, the land was acquired by the Forest Department without settling their rights over them. After Independence, supported by improper survey and settlement, large tracts of land were declared as “reserve forests,” meaning no rights either existed there or would exist later and all who either resided or claimed rights would be termed as encroachers.
