Odisha’s ‘Green Gold’: Tribal communities fighting for their forest rights over Kendu leaves

Kendu leaves, also known as ‘Green Gold’, are a valuable minor forest produce (MFP) in India and a crucial seasonal source of income for tribal communities, especially women.

For the third consecutive year, tribal communities in Odisha’s Koraput district are fighting to exercise their legal right to collect and sell kendu leaves.

Despite holding Community Forest Rights (CFR) under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, 20 Gram Sabhas in Baipariguda block remain unable to begin collection because the Odisha government has not issued a deregulation letter, a procedural step needed to bypass the state-controlled kendu leaf trade.