As Mendha Lekha becomes the first village in India to exercise their communities right to harvest and freely sell bamboo under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), Down To Earth takes a look at the key players.

During the 2011 International Year of Forests, WWF’s Living Forests Report is part of a year?long conversation with partners, policymakers, and business about how to protect, conserve, sustainably use, and govern the world’s forests in the 21st century.

Letter from Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Environment & Forests to Prithviraj Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra on whether access to and collection of bamboo in the reserve forest amounts to a forest offence under the Indian Forest Year 1927.

In response to forest department's opposition to giving community rights to freely sell, harvest and transport bamboo, Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh has said that Minor Forest Produce is a ownership right vested by Parliament under Forest Rights Act and all state authorities are obliged to respect this provision.

Letter to Additional Chief Secretary (Forests) on Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act 2006 from Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (HoFF), Maharashtra State, Nagpur : Legal position with regard to exercise of community rights in reserved forest of Lekha-Mendha village in Gadchiroli District.

The state government has finally declared the 'Goa state forest policy - 2009' even as the green cover has shrunk drastically and is further threatened by mining and development activities. The policy seeks to blend the basic principles of the national forest policy ( NFP 1988) with the state's needs.

In a letter sent to chief ministers of all states on March 21, environment minister Jairam Ramesh asked them to direct state forest departments to treat bamboo as minor forest produce. Read this letter sent by MoEF to the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.

Letter by Shri Jairam Ramesh to Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh declaring and treating bamboo as minor forest produce.

The National Advisory Council (NAC) recognizes that the Scheduled Tribes & Other Traditional Forest Dwellers( Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 was a landmark legislation that aimed to undo the historial injustice done to tribals and other forest dwellers by non-recognition of their forest rights.  However, it has not yet succeeded fully in achieving its objectives, because of so