From Bastar to Meghalaya, customary tree claims link culture and ecology, proving ownership can protect forests better than fences.

In many Indian forests, a peculiar form of property right exists: the land may be state-owned, but certain trees on that land are customarily "owned" by local tribal families or communities.

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Under this traditional system, individuals or clans hold rights to specific trees - for fruits, flowers, resin, or other products - even though they have no title to the soil.

For example, in the forests of Bastar (Central India), the Teta family "owns" five mahua trees on public land, a privilege allotted to their ancestors generations ago.

These tree rights are heritable and exclusive: each tree "belongs" to a particular family, and others generally do not harvest its produce without permission.

This separation of tree and land ownership raises intriguing questions about the nature of such rights, the rules that govern them, and how they have evolved.

Despite their socio-cultural and ecological significance, scholarly attention to these customary tree tenure systems has been limited.

To understand how these practices came to coexist with modern laws, one must trace their historical roots, the disruptions of colonial rule, and the gradual recognition (or omission) of these rights in contemporary legal frameworks.

CULTURAL TRADITIONS OF TREE TENURE

Across indigenous communities of India, trees have long been entwined with social identity, livelihood, and spirituality.

Many tribal societies evolved elaborate customary norms determining who may use which trees' products.

These norms often differ fundamentally from formal land ownership.

In some communities, planting a tree establishes ownership - the tree belongs to the person or family that planted or nurtured it.

In others, rights are claimed by first use: among certain Central Indian tribes, for instance, the first person to tap a wild resin tree for gum gains a customary claim over that tree thereafter (a practice documented by recent researchers).

Trees can thus be treated as inherited property, even though the land is communal or government-owned.