A POLICY WIN! BAMBOO IS NOT A TREE

In a big win for bamboo-based livelihoods in India and for us at CCS, President Ram Nath Kovind has cleared an ordinance amending the Indian Forest Act 1927. With the amendment, non-forest bamboo is now classified as ‘grass’ and can be freely produced and transported. This heralds an opening up of markets for communities directly dependent on bamboo-based livelihoods.

The classification of bamboo as a tree had made the resource inaccessible to the economically disadvantaged forest-dwelling and rural communities, and thwarted bamboo-based livelihoods. CCS had consistently campaigned for reforms in bamboo regulations in India since 2009, through its ‘Bamboo is not a Tree’ campaign, presenting regulatory reform recommendations to 13 key central ministries.

While the ordinance presents a major breakthrough in enabling market opportunities for bamboo-based livelihoods, it continues to be marred by the over-lapping and confounding legislations of the newly amended Indian Forest Act and Forest Rights Act (2006). Bamboo grown within forest limits, for instance, remains vulnerable to continuing state control. Following the ordinance and recognising its limits, CCS has stepped up its campaign to advocate for community rights for the sustainable management of bamboos.

Watch: Bamboo is not a Tree

Repository of research on Bamboo regulations

Bamboo Regulation in India : The Need for Reforms

1. Overall Forest related research
   1. Far East, Introduction to Bamboo*
   2. About Bamboo_Britannica Encyclopedia*
   3. Annual Report, Ministry Of Environment and Forests, 2011-12
   4. Two Hundred and Thirty First Report on The Indian Forest (Amendment) Bill, 2012
   5. Prime Legislations on Forests
   6. Bamboo Poor Man’s Gold
   7. Report on the Field Trip and Research Study on the Feasibility of an Amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927: With the Effect of Removing Bamboo from the Scope of its Purview – by Mridula Paul
   8. Nagaland Bamboo Policy
   9. IPPG Discussion Papers Number 45
   10. IPPG Discussion Papers Number 27
   11. A Case Study on Pilot Implementation in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam
   12. Forest Rehabilitation in Vietnam
2. Employment Potential/ Industrial Benefits
   1. Rio bats for bamboo growth: Article, The Telegraph*
   2. Policy and legal reforms for Indian Poor
   3. What Ails The Northeast: An Enquiry Into The Economic Factors – by Sreeradha Datta
   4. Should agriculture be taxed in India?*
   5. Bamboo Cultivation-Potential and Prospects
   6. APMC Act and Indian Agriculture: Agriculture should not be a state subject
   7. Connecting to the poor-(problems and prospects)
   8. Industrialiazation of Bamboo Sector-by Arnab Hazara
   9. National Mission on Bamboo Technology and Trade Development*
3. Environmental Benefits
   1. How much water do trees take
   2. International Seminar on Bamboo : “Bamboo for Livelihood and Community Development, September 16-17, 2010 & The World Bamboo Day on September 18, 2010 At Kisama Heritage Village, Kohima, Nagaland, India
4. Impact on Tribal / forest dwelling communities/Legal affairs
   1. Letter by Jai Ram Ramesh
   2. Give tribals the right to harvest, sell bamboo – The New Indian Express*
   3. Demand for classifying bamboo as ‘grass’ not ‘tree’ – Times Of India*
   4. It’s a grass, not a tree Bamboo off-shoots – Times Of India*
   5. The Indian Forest Act, 1927
   6. Mirages of Hope_ the response of the Indian judiciary and special courts on environmental conflicts*
   7. Forest Conservation Act 1980
   8. Letter to PM and others by Parth, CCS
   9. MoEF on Bamboo, Forest Act Amendment
   10. Some Insights into the Forests Rights Act (FRA); Conservation India*
   11. Supreme Court and India’s forests – Sharachchandra (Sharad) Lele – Academia
   12. Comparative Analysis and Policy Recommendations on Developing Bamboo Resource Tenure Systems in Asia and Africa
   13. Analysis and Legal Tips if IFA and FCA
   14. The Potential of Bamboo is Constrained by Outmoded Policy Frames
   15. New Bamboo Industries and Pro-Poor Impact – China lesson
5. Ministers/important agencies
   1. Important govt. Official
   2. Important contacts international
   3. Delgates
   4. Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency
6. Other Links
   1. www.inbar.int
   2. www.americanbamboo.org
   3. www.oprins.be
   4. www.bambootextile.com
   5. www.bamboofencer.com
   6. www.watershedmedia.com
   7. http://www.icfre.org/index.php?linkid=sublnk510373&link=1
   8. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01678809/149
   9. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/archive/435065-philippine-daily-inquirer/august-2009.html
   10. http://moef.nic.in/divisions/forpol.html
   11. http://www.inbar.int/publications/?category=1
   12. http://agmarknet.nic.in/
7. Other References
   1. What Ails the Northeast_ an Enquiry Into the Economic Factors
   2. Policy Recommendations on Management of Forest Bamboo

News Updates:

• Wildlife, tribal affairs ministries spar over bamboo rule
• Demand for classifying bamboo as ‘grass’ not ‘tree’
• Bureaucratic & institutional hurdles need to be removed to free Bamboo
• Ramesh Cracks Whip, Warns Foresters
• Victim of his own order
• The big idea for change: bamboo as grass
• House of bamboo (It may be a tree, grass or weed, but it’s green gold.)
• It’s a grass, not a tree Bamboo off-shoots: Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh
• Bamboo Capitalism (China’s success owes more to its entrepreneurs than its bureaucrats. Time to bring them out of the shadows.)

(*Retrieved on 6 May 2013)