There was a time when the area leading up to the village of Usku Dadjo in the state of Jharkhand, east India, was dense forest. But because residents did not have the right to manage their land, the forest was steadily degraded by outsiders. Now, only sand and scrub remain.

Last year, the community started to reclaim traditional lands using India’s groundbreaking 2006 Forest Rights Act. While the community has not yet received any response from the government, residents have put up signs asserting their right to the land.

The struggle of communities like Usku Dadjo is linked to global efforts to conserve forests, reduce poverty and achieve development with dignity for marginalised people.

China and India have a combined total of approximately 675 million forest dwellers (pdf), but the two countries have adopted remarkably different approaches to protecting forests and extending rights to traditional inhabitants.

China has implemented one of Asia’s most successful forest tenure reforms: more than 400 million people have been given direct rights over more than 100m hectares (247m acres) of forest.

Land ownership has been shifting out of the public domain into the hands of local communities and households, with nearly 60% of China’s forests now legally owned by collectives (pdf). Since China has implemented these reforms, farmers’ incomes have steadily increased and the government has invested more than $50bn (£38bn) in programmes supporting farmers and households for environmental restoration, helping to ease poverty and mitigate the effects of climate change.

The Indian government hopes to emulate China’s economic growth and rapid industrial development. Yet growing discontent within the forests is casting doubt on this agenda. The Forest Rights Act is largely dormant – institutionally ignored and unimplemented – while the state maintains a tight grip over forests, to the detriment of the environment and inhabitants.

What is the significance of democracy if an autocratic state can successfully devolve decision-making over forests and a fiercely democratic one cannot recognise the rights of its citizens in accordance with its own laws?

In China, the decision to devolve authority over forests to local communities and households came less from a belief in rights and more from realities. The central government formulated its policy on collective forest reform after it was tested at a provincial level: community rights were found to be effective in protecting forests and boosting the rural economy.

Unlike China, the decision to democratise India’s forests through the act did not come from the top, but evolved from a feeling of disenfranchisement among people in the forests.

If the law were implemented, the results could be staggering. A 2015 report (pdf) estimated that, because of the act, the individual and community rights of at least 150 million people in 170,000 villages could be recognised over 40m hectares of forested land. This represents at least half of India’s forests. A concerted effort to implement the act would usher in the largest land reform in India’s history.

Imagine if communities in India were empowered to govern their forests, plant trees and restore degraded landscapes, and – because their efforts provided ecological services for the benefit of the country, and indeed the world – they were rewarded. This would be a massive, and necessary, step toward realising India’s commitment to sequester 2.5bn tonnes of carbon following the Paris climate change agreement last December.

Unfortunately, only about 4m hectares have been recognised under the act (pdf), less than 10% of the potential area. In the resource-rich heartland, conflicts over land are on the rise as the government continues to award concessions to companies on the traditional lands of local communities.

At the same time, the state continues to wage war against a leftwing insurgency born of frustration over a lack of self-determination. The effective implementation of the act not only carries the potential for democratic development, but also the potential to address the underlying causes of conflict.

A rag picker on the outskirts of Jammu in 2010. India has promised an afforestation project as part of its commitment to tackle climate change. Photograph: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters

India’s upper house is currently debating a controversial bill to channel up to $7bn to state departments for afforestation. While this may sound positive, such a move would undermine strides towards decentralised governance and return power to an inefficient bureaucracy.

Global evidence, including the Chinese experience, indicates that communities manage forests more sustainably than governments or private entities.

Last year in Usku Dadjo, local resident Johan Kalkho told me: “We are ready to protect our forests. With a title we will get back what was taken from our forefathers. We have filed our claims [through the act], but have not received any response. But we know we are the rightful owners of the land.”

As India looks to China as an example of economic growth, it should also pay attention to how China has devolved forest authority while increasing the autonomy and incomes of forest populations. In the meantime, millions of Indians are still searching for democracy to trickle down from the centres of power into their forests.