Forest laws? For us, they are walls on our own land. Reserved is where the forest department guards trees and chases us out, protected is a softer cage, and unclassed is often just land they haven't fenced yet. The papers say they cover over twenty percent, but that number feels like the map of a house we are not allowed to enter.
My father was beaten for taking dry wood from the ‘reserved’ forest to cook our meal—the same forest where my grandmother gathered herbs. So you tell me, what does ‘protected’ really mean?
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