Communities in Jaisalmer have threatened to boycott #LokSabha2024 polls if the Orans, Rajasthans’ sacred groves, are not protected and the decision to grant them “deemed forest” status is not reversed.

Do their fears have any basis? A thread by @sukriti_vats

Rajasthan declared Orans as deemed forests in February after a Supreme Court order. These community-conserved spaces include native trees & grazing lands catering to cattle herders & endangered wildlife.

Some environmental activists hailed the decision to recognise this important ecology. The Orans were earlier recorded as wastelands, leading to their destruction as they were easily alloted for renewable energy projects.

Local communities had been fighting against this wrong categorisation of Orans and wanted them identified in the revenue records.

Legal experts argued that this new status will not protect Orans given that deemed forests were excluded from the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act after it was amended last year, resulting in easy clearance.

The state’s decision also came 27 years after the apex court’s first order to classify such habitats. The delay has already led to huge biodiversity loss.

The protest against the upcoming election encapsulates this history of the disappearing Orans, the new status that doesn’t guarantee protection and the fear that it might restrict access to grazing land essential for the villagers’ livelihood.

Read full report by our Writing Fellow @sukriti_vats
in @IndiaSpend
https://indiaspend.com/cover-story/why-deemed-forest-tag-for-rajasthans-orans-may-not-save-them-904767…