The Indian government has scrapped a plan to militarize its forests and open them up for commercial exploitation, after a national and international outcry. The government’s proposals were initially secret, and were drawn up with the involvement of the CEO of WWF-India, Ravi Singh. But they were leaked in March, and led to protests in India and an international campaign led by Survival International. Source: Timberbiz
Under the plan, forest guards would have been armed and enjoyed virtual immunity from prosecution; any forests could have been handed over to private interests after the original inhabitants had been evicted; and millions of forest-dwelling tribal people would have found their lives made impossible.
The scheme led to demonstrations in India, and thousands protested to the Indian authorities.
“The Indian government, advised by WWF-India, wanted to strip millions of tribal people of their rights and give extraordinary powers to forest guards – allowing them to kill people with virtual impunity,” Stephen Corry, Director of Survival International, said
“Thousands protested in India and internationally and tribal peoples have now won a huge victory in getting the plan scrapped.”
