Introduction
India is home to a wide variety of forests, including alpine, subtropical, temperate, and dry tropical montane forests as well as scrub and wet tropical forests. It is one of the 17 "megadiverse" nations and is the habitat to 8% of all known plant and animal species. In addition, almost 275 million people in India rely on forests for food, fuelwood, fodder, and other forest products, which maintain their way of life.
India, which takes up 2.4% of the global area, is the seventh-largest nation in the world. India barely makes up 1.8% of the world's forest cover, nevertheless. India's woods are in a terrible shape despite recent efforts to improve forest cover through replanting, which are mostly being carried out under Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), with slightly over 21% of India covered in forest in 2007.Only 12% of the area is densely forested. 33 percent of the country's land must be covered with forest, and it must all be closed forest, according to policy. We are, however, a long way from reaching this number.
Evolution of Forest Rights in India
Phase I: Pre-Independence
1856: As the first railway was introduced in 1853 from Mumbai to Thane, the demand for timber to extend the railway lines also increased.
1865: Through the incorporation of Indian Forests Act, 1865, the Britishers attempted to extend the government claims and authorization over the forest lands.
1878: Subsequently the Forest Rights Act, 1878 came into force which replaced the conventional acts of communities and limited their role over the forest land thereby securing an established control of the colonial government. The legislative intent of this Act was to explain the power, role and extent of colonial government in terms of the forest land. Furthermore, it also defines and limits the scope of villagers/communities by clarifying that “customary use of forests is a privilege and not a right”.
1927: With the formulation of the Indian Forest Act, 1927, this act has not defined the word “forests” anywhere but it does categorise the forests into three types namely; reserve forest, protected forest and village forest.
Phase II: Post Independence
1952: During this period, the national interests trumped any interest pertaining to communities/villagers.
1972: Wildlife Protection Act: An Act to provide for the protection of wild animals, birds and plants and for matters connected therewith or ancillary or incidental thereto with a view to ensuring the ecological and environmental security of the country.
1976: In this year through 42nd Constitutional Amendment, the “forests” were transferred to Concurrent List enlarging the scope of management through State as well as the Centre. The states contend that despite this transformation, little progress has been made in planting, caring for, conserving, and developing forests, and that the continual decline of forest cover remains "a severe national problem." The real solution comes in raising public understanding of the value of forests to a nation's economy and ecosystem as well as in taking aggressive action to prevent unauthorised forest exploitation. The State Government has requested that the subject "Forests" be moved back to the State List by restoring Entry 19, which was removed by the Forty-second Amendment, because there is no basis for having this Entry in the Concurrent List.
1980: Due to the increase in deforestation and misuse of forest lands for commercial purposes, a new act was enacted Forest Conservation Act, 1980 to regulate the activities at forest lands. The main objectives of the Act were:
1) To restrict the use of forest land for non-forest purposes
2) To prevent the de-reservation of forests those have been reserved under the Indian Forest Act, 1927
3) To restrict leasing of forest land to private individuals, authority, corporations not owned by the Government
4) To prevent clear felling of naturally grown trees
1986: Environment Protection Act: authorizes the central government to protect and improve environmental quality, control and reduce pollution from all sources, and prohibit or restrict the setting and /or operation of any industrial facility on environmental grounds.
1988: Further, the National Forest Policy, 1988 was enacted with the objective to establish a proper management.
2006: The Scheduled Tribes and the Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forests Rights) Act: recognizes the rights of the forest dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers to forest resources, on which these communities were dependent for a variety of needs, including livelihood, habitation and other socio-cultural needs.
Conservation v. Conservatism:
Indian Forest Act v. Forest Rights Act
The Indian Forest Act (IFA) and the Forest Rights Act (FRA) provide two distinct frameworks for the conservation of forests. The FRA is a superseding Act, and that implies regulations repugnant to it can't hold. Subsequently, the progressive ramifications of the requirement of FRA are, regardless of what privileges IFA has given to the State and Woods division and what they might choose, their freedoms and necessities are currently dependent upon the assent of the local area.
FRA and IFA are two completely opposite and contradictory laws which follow opposing ideologies. The former focuses on the rights of the tribals and the local people of the forest and the latter focuses on the authority and the rights of forest officers over tribals by taking care of the commercial value of the forest.
The IFA had given the officers the power to control every aspect of the tribals way of life, but the FRA grants the tribes not only ownership and title rights over their property but also intends to maintain their traditional rights.
The absolute power of the forest officers have been reduced by the FRA by giving the authority to the Gram Sabhas for solving any dispute related to land claims. The Gram Sabhas have been made a quasi-judicial body
The power has been shifted from big companies and officers sitting at high places to forest dwellers.
However, in order to facilitate the trade in commercial timber, the Indian Government developed a Draft National Forest Policy 2018 to prevent the "illegal encroachment" of forest dwellers in the "government forests". This has drawn a lot of criticism because it would not only result in a reduction in the amount of forest cover, but also have a severe effect on the already appalling conditions in which the forest dwellers have been surviving up until now.
Types of Forests and their Declaration
Reserved Forests: A reserved forest is any piece of forestland or wasteland that the government owns. Due to the government’s ownership of the property, certain forests are restricted. Locals are not allowed to use the protected woodlands unless they have obtained authorization from the authorities. When the Government issues a preliminary notification under Section 4 of the Act stating that such a land is to be constituted as a reserved forest and the Forest Settlement Officer settles all the rights by either admitting or rejecting them, the area of land is then declared to be a reserved forest.
For example: Attappadi reserve forest in Kerala and Palani Hills forest conservation area in Tamil Nadu.
Village Forests: When the Government gives any reserved forest or other land to the village community for their use, that piece of land is categorised as village forest lands under Chapter III, section 28 of the Act. For the administration of these woods, the state government determines the guidelines.
For example: Such committees are known as Van Panchayats in the Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand, Forest Co-operative Societies in Himachal Pradesh and Van Samrakshan Samitis in Andhra Pradesh.
Protected Forests: Any territory other than reserved forests may be designated by the state government as protected forests over which the government has exclusive rights. Chapter IV, section 29 of the Act covers the provisions for the protected forests. Along with the rights, the government has the authority to reserve a particular tree species in forests under protection. The explanation for this might be because certain specific trees have the potential to generate income and must thus be conserved for their advantages.
For example: Protected forests frequently advance to the status of wildlife sanctuaries, which may then advance to the status of national parks, each getting a higher level of protection and government financing. For instance, before becoming a national park in 1992, Sariska National Park was first designated as a protected forest in 1955, a wildlife sanctuary in 1958, and a tiger reserve in 1978.
Procedure established to seek prior Approval under Forest Conservation Act, 1980
The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 was enacted after realization of the fact that failure of State Governments to withstand local pressure has resulted in diversion of Approx.. 4.135 million hectares of forest land diverted during 25 year period from 1951-52 to 1975-76 without any regard to environmental consideration. The provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 extends to all areas recorded as forest in government records and the areas which may be defined as forest as per its ‘dictionary meaning’ irrespective of ownership located in the entire country except Jammu & Kashmir.
Procedure is as follows:
The Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2003 (FC Rules) provides the procedure to obtain prior approval of Central Government under section-2 of the FC Act.
As per the FC Rules, every user agency, who wants to use forest land for non-forest purpose, after examining all feasible alternatives, prepares the proposal in the format prescribed in the FC Rules and submits it to the concerned nodal officer authorized in this behalf by the State Government, along with requisite information and documents complete in all respects well in advance of taking any non-forest activity on the forest land.
The proposals involving up to forty hectares of forest land and all proposals involving diversion of forest land for linear projects irrespective of area of forest land involved: Regional Office of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
For example: 40 hectares forest around Asola’s Neeli Jheel was redeveloped for visitors to promote eco-tourism and bird watching in May, 2022.
The proposals involving forest land of more than forty hectares, except those involving diversion of forest land for linear projects irrespective of area of forest land involved, are sent by the State Government to the Secretary to the Government of India, MoEFCC, with a copy of the proposal (with complete enclosures) to the concerned Regional Office of the MoEFCC.
For example: 727 hectares of forest land was approved for diversion for the use of the army and paramilitary forces from September 18, 2019 to October 21, 2019 in Pir Panjal (Gulmarg Wildlife Sanctuary), Kehmil, Jhelum Valley, Samba and Jammu Forest divisions.
Proposals involving up to forty hectares of forest land for mining, regularization of encroachments and hydel projects are referred to the REC for advice. While tendering advice, the REC may also suggest any condition or restrictions on the use of any forest land for any non-forest purpose, which in its opinion, would minimize adverse environmental impact.
The Central Government, after considering the advice of the REC and after such further enquiry as it may consider necessary, grant in-principle approval to the proposal with appropriate mitigative measures or reject the same.
Every proposal involving more than 40 hecatres of forest land, except those relating to linear projects , along with site inspection report are referred by the Central Government to the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC)
While tendering advice, FAC may also suggest any condition or restrictions on the use of any forest land for any non-forest purpose, which in its opinion, would minimize adverse environmental impact.
The Central Government, after considering the advice of the FAC and after such further enquiry as it may consider necessary, grant approval to the proposal with appropriate mitigative measures or reject the same.
Conclusion
The Indian Forest Act's Section 2 outlines a number of terminologies that are crucial to the field of forests, including cattle, which encompasses all animals, the forest officer appointed by the State Government, and the forest produce, which includes wood, charcoal, and wood-oil among other things. Additionally, it distinguishes between the river and any streams, canals, or other channels. The act, according to the government, was intended to save India's greenery. However, a thorough study of the incident indicates that the underlying intent was to make money by harvesting the trees and other forest products. The Indian government has a reputation for ignoring and being indifferent to the predicament of forest inhabitants. To further aggravate the situation, the government has continued to concentrate exclusively on one aspect of the issue, namely the capitalistic approach to growth.
Written by,
Purnima Rathi,
Intern, CLAWW
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