Rights over land, especially for cultivation, are an important and contentious issue in the context of forestry and livelihoods. This paper summarises the views expressed by project respondents on three specific issues that are currently controversial in the forest and land rights debate in India - the question of 'encroachment' on forest lands; the entitlement of tribals to usufruct from the forests for their domestic needs (also known as nistar); and the issue of conversion of forest lands to revenue lands.
Vira, B. et al. 2005. Rights issues in the forest. Cambridge-Harda Project Policy Paper 2. Cambridge: Department of Geography, University of Cambridge. 4 pp.