Copy of bcp 18112011 English - Natural Justice

The biocultural community protocol of maldharis of banni16between Maldhari communities. In stressfultimes such as this, our elders have issued a callto the community members and thegovernment, saying 'Banni ko Banni rahenedo' meaning leave Banni as it was, as a commonland for pastoralists and their animals andrecognize our customary rights to live and grazeour animals in Banni.9.3 Threats from invasive alien speciesWe are anxious about the increasing spreadof the invasive alien species ProsopisJuliflorathat is rapidly taking over the grassland anddestroying all the grasses. Prosopis Juliflorawas introduced by the Forest Departmentwithout consulting Maldharis as a part oftheir greening campaign. Instead of greeningBanni, this exotic plant has destroyed thegrasses by sucking up all the water, killed ourKankrej cattle, which graze on its toxic pods,and has taken over vast sections of Banniradically unbalancing the grasslandecosystem. The indigenous variety of thesame species that we call 'desi babul' andother indigenous shrubs and plant speciesare being slowly lost due to the onslaught ofProsopis Juliflora. Four years ago we werepermitted by the Forest Department to cutdown Prosopis Juliflora and use it to makeand sell charcoal as a part of a strategy to limit itsspread. Last year, the permission was deniedand instead the Forest Department is fencing offlarge sections of Banni, most of the timeswithout consulting Panchayats and itsrepresentatives, in an attempt to eliminateProsopis Juliflora and replant the traditionalgrasses. These fences have blocked ourtraditional grazing routes and we have lost someof our buffalos, which have fallen into the deeppits that have been dug around the fences. Atthe same time we have created our own grazingpatches where we have revived the rich Bannigrasses by eliminating Prosopis Juliflora. Wewould rather demand that the ForestDepartment rely on the traditional knowledgeand experience of Maldharis to revive Banniinstead of fencing off portions of it to solve aproblem that they have created.