Govt Proposes To Redefine Forests

Govt Proposes To Redefine Forests

Subject – Environment

Context – Last week, the Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) published proposed amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, easing diversion of forests and exempting certain categories of development from the need to take clearance from the Ministry.

Concept –

• Last week, the Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) published proposed amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, easing diversion of forests and exempting certain categories of development from the need to take clearance from the Ministry.

Why is the Act being amended now?

• It has been amended only once before, in 1988.
• Ministry officials have said the current definition of forests has locked land across the country; even private owners cannot utilise their own property for non-forestry purposes.
• Under the Act, any diversion of any forest land for any purpose, including assignment of leases, needs prior approval of the Centre.
• In 1996, ruling in T N Godavarman Thirumulpad v Union of India, the Supreme Court had expanded the definition and scope of forest land to include all areas recorded as forest in any government record, irrespective of ownership, recognition and classification.
  • Previously, the Act had applied largely to reserve forests and national parks.
  • The court also expanded the definition of forests to encompass the “dictionary meaning of forests”, which would mean that a forested patch would automatically become a “deemed forest” even if it is not notified as protected, and irrespective of ownership.
  • The order was also interpreted to presume that the Act is applicable over plantations in non-forest land.

What are the proposed amendments?

• The Ministry has proposed that all land acquired by the Railways and Roads Ministries prior to 1980 be exempted from the Act. It says these lands had been acquired for expansion, but subsequently forests have grown in these areas, and the government is no longer able to use the land for expansion. If the amendment is brought in, these Ministries will no longer need clearance for their projects, nor pay compensatory levies to build there.
• For individuals whose lands fall within a state-specific Private Forests Act or come within the dictionary meaning of forest as specified in the 1996 Supreme Court order, the government proposes to allow “construction of structures for bona fide purposes’’ including residential units up to 250 sq m as a one-time relaxation.
• Defence projects near international borders will be exempted from forest clearance.
• Oil and natural gas extraction from forested lands will be permitted, but only if technologies such as Extended Reach Drilling are used.
• The Ministry has proposed doing away with levies for non-forestry purposes during the renewal of a lease, saying the double levy at the time of awarding of the lease and the renewal is “not rational”.
• Strip plantations alongside roads that would fall under the Act will be exempted.