Comments on: Damned by nature; damned by man

By: Mohit Sahu

Mohit Sahu — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:12:26 +0000

Dear Ranjit,
This happens at most of the forested areas.Many a time the locals are lured into poaching also.To conserve the ‘greens’it is necessary that good employment opportunities have to be created near the homes of locals.This may be done by developing well-planned and disciplined tourism.

By: tcornelisse

tcornelisse — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:09:38 +0000

Reblogged this on Conservation of Biodiversity and commented: A wonderful post from ConservationBytes

By: wiguna

wiguna — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:35:47 +0000

The Ranjit history seem similar with Indonesian forest faced today. Even in protected areas, small farmers encroached the forest.

By: Gauri Sankar Narzary

Gauri Sankar Narzary — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 16:14:15 +0000

Thank you Mr. Gill for igniting a scores of debates among the readers. I do agree with the view of one of the reader, that the situation is not the same every where. Officers of your taste is very much essential. Out here in Assam (Indo-Bhutan boarder) the land grabbing with the intention of getting ownership as per The Tribal and Forest Dwellers Act seems grim. Funny think about is the base year of settlement in forests.

By: nitika

nitika — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 15:14:20 +0000

Its a brave act on Mr. Ranjit’s part. The sooner everyone realizes this, the better! Kudos!

By: Bittu Sahgal, Editor, Sanctuary Asia

Bittu Sahgal, Editor, Sanctuary Asia — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 06:40:37 +0000

When a good forest officer, like Ranjit Singh Gill, speaks forest truths, everyone responds by clapping him heartily between the shoulder blades. But not everyone reads between the lines to hear what he is actually saying. The real message here is that rules and laws like the Forest Rights Act have been crafted with good intent, but the systemic failures that keep tribal and forest dwellers on poverty street, while enriching the powerful, are not being tackled at all. This is a Meghalaya story. In Assam’s Sonitpur the tragedy is even deepe, where in the name of the Forest Rights Act a whole slew of land claims (not just timber claims) were together with massive land grabs and tree felling. Thank you Ranjit for this simple story. One day the penny will drop and our planners might wake up. Hopefully before the last tree is felled.

By: K.Kakati

K.Kakati — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 16:36:44 +0000

Just one example of how the system often defeats the purpose, and how the tentacles of ‘development’ reach the farthest corners to obtain their nourishment. This is not just a simple tribal versus non-tribal narrative (there are ones among the tribals too who can play as good a game). I appreciate your candour. A complicated tale, simply told.

By: Nimish Patel

Nimish Patel — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 10:31:51 +0000

A very honest and courageous article for anyone part of the governance structure. I very much agree with the Mr Gill, and from my own experience can confirm that same situation applies with wildlife poaching. The tribals, even the ones who may supply venison or pork, are not the cause of today’s problems but they are an easy target to point fingers.

By: Krishna

Krishna — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 05:46:15 +0000

Congratulations to Mr. Ranjit Singh Gill. We need more voices like him especially within the system to highlight the deeper issues around deforestation and ecological degradation. The Adivasi communities certainly depend on the forests and in many places the social structures and cultural connect with the forests has weakened resulting in unsustainable harvests,but even for this a major part of the blame lies with the way Forest governance was designed, historically and its manifestation in the contemporary context.

I also wish to acknowledge that it could get a little lonely for forest officers like Mr. Ranjit Singh, my full solidarity and support to him and other upright official, a change from within the system shall certainly strengthen change processes advocated from outside.

Krishna, Pune

By: Farshid

Farshid — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 13:55:56 +0000

Dear Ranjit: Your story was fascinating and I thank you for the work you do. The challenge, though, is how do we fix this issue? Do we stop selling/auctioning the trees? Stopping the auctions might help limit the practice of cutting down trees that are finally easily bought at an auction. However, this might result in fueling the growth of cut-and-run operations. Ideally it would be great if some kind of tribal cooperative is given the logs at a reasonable price, which then manages to sell them to the big-city consumers, thereby eliminating the middlemen. This is obviously no easy task, and will come with its own set of challenges. People like you are the best judges of what changes could be made to the system, and how best to implement those changes. You have your work cut out for you and I wish you all the best with improving the situation in the Garo hills.