The Forest Rights Act (FRA) was enacted in India in 2006 to end top-down conservation practices dating back to the colonial era, which marginalized forest communities. It sought to empower these communities and institutions like the Gram Sabhas with decision-making authority over their forests, including management and protection against threats. The FRA mandates free, prior, and informed consent from Gram Sabhas before any customary forest is repurposed. Despite these provisions, forest conservation in India has continued to encroach on community lands through systematic violations of the FRA, often driven by the forest bureaucracy, corporate interests, and some conservation NGOs.[1]

Over the past few decades, vast areas of forest have been declared National Parks and Tiger Reserves without consultation and the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples, leaving many forest dwellers vulnerable. Forced relocations under the guise of “voluntary relocation” have been widespread, with the Supreme Court in 2019 ordering eviction for communities whose claims were rejected under the FRA. Communities within Protected Areas (PAs) are frequently ignored, especially those marked for relocation by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).[2]

Since the 1972 launch of Project Tiger, over 56,000 families across 50 Tiger Reserves have faced eviction, with around 12,000 families officially relocated. However, 44,000 families—about 220,000 people—remain without proper relocation. [3]Although the FRA allows communities evicted before its enactment to reclaim their lands, NTCA has continued pushing for human-free reserves, prioritizing tourism and conservation interests over community rights. The central Indian uplands, home to Indigenous Peoples like the Gonds and Baiga, are particularly at risk due to overlapping conservation zones and mining activities. This effort is funded partly by the CAMPA fund, which comes from compensatory payments by mining companies.

Communities reliant on forests in and around PAs also face eviction, often under conservation policies that prioritize a "fortress conservation" approach.According to Survival International, the big conservation organizations such as WWF andWildlife Conservation Societynever speak out against the evictions, and claim that “relocations” of tribal people are “voluntary.” But the “relocations” are almost always, in fact, forced evictions.[4]

Despite facing these challenges, communities are the true custodians of the forests, with the FRA offering a means to support bottom-up conservation that incorporates their traditional stewardship.

In September 2020, a campaign by AIFFM and related groups aimed to highlight the FRA’s conservation significance. Activists formed research teams to collect data on FRA violations and community conservation efforts in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, though progress was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Initial findings indicate ongoing persecution of forest communities, revealing that authorities see communities as obstacles rather than allies in conservation, in violation of the FRA.[5]

Indravati National Park are also trapped in a violent conflict they have neither initiated nor supported. Between 5-7 June 2025, the anti-Maoist operations conducted by security forces in Indravati National Park led to the killing of seven Maoists, including top leaders Sudhakar and Bhaskar.[6] The offensive highlighted the dire situation of the tribal communities living in the conflict zone. These Adivasi families, whose lives are intertwined with the forest, are caught in the crossfire between Maoists and state forces - facing harassment, displacement, restricted access to forest resources and psychological trauma.