New Delhi, July 30 -- This is the second of a 3-part series

Amaad is one of the 134 villages of Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district that have received Community Forest Resource Rights (CFRR). The Gram Sabha of Amaad, located in the core area of the Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, received CFRR over 1,517.49 hectares of forest in 2023.

Ganesh Ram, president of the village's forest resource management committee, told Down to Earth, "The village residents have got this right after a lot of struggle. We were demanding CFRR for the last 8-10 years. The forest department officials were not in favour of this. But the administration agreed to grant this right, considering our commitment towards forest conservation for the last 20-25 years."

An 1...