Comments on the Proposed Amendments to Forest Conservation Act, 1980
Submission to the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change
The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) has released a public consultation paper on 2nd October 2021 inviting comments on the proposed amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 (FCA). Vidhi has reviewed the consultation paper and submitted its comments to the MoEFCC on 27th October 2021.
Appreciable steps under the intended amendments include protections for pristine forests, introduction of penal provisions for violation of FCA, and the exclusion of afforestation on non-forest lands after 12.12.1996 from the purview of the Act.
However, the consultation paper and proposed amendments fall short on a number of counts. Most importantly, the consultation paper is premised on an incorrect interpretation of T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India. It has been settled by the Supreme Court, High Court and the National Green Tribunal that any plantation or forest-like land not notified or recorded as forests in government records will not attract provisions of Section 2 of the FCA, and yet, the consultation paper asserts that the scope of the applicability of FCA extends to all areas which conform to the ‘dictionary’ meaning of ‘forest’.
Some of the proposed exemptions digress from the National Forest Policy, 1988 and the constitutional mandate of the State to preserve and protect forest and wildlife. It is proposed by the MoEFCC to provide exemptions from prior government approval (under FCA) for lands acquired before 1980, when the FCA first came into existence. We believe that this will significantly dilute the Godavarman decision as it will exclude large amounts of land that may have otherwise been deemed or notified as forests.
Some additional concerns are summarized below:
- Exemption of 0.05 hectares of forests for access to roads and railways is arbitrary, likely to be misused and may result in serious fragmentation of forest land.
- Complete exemption to technologies such as Extended Reach Drilling is dangerous in the absence of sufficient evidence regarding the impact it may have on biodiversity.
- Bringing all zoos, safaris and forest training infrastructures within the ambit of forestry activities, is inconsistent with the FCA and the FCA Guidelines, 2019 which clearly differentiate low footprint conservation establishments from exhibition-oriented outreach centers. Further, this may disproportionately commercialize forests and disturb forest ecosystems.
- Exemptions for all surveys and investigations are arbitrary, and such exemptions should depend on the underlying project and its implications on the forest and associated wildlife.
- Blanket exemptions for border infrastructure projects are problematic as they have significant impact on sensitive landscape and biodiversity, and may adversely impact the infrastructures themselves, due to resultant environmental hazards in case of extreme weather events. Clearances are currently being given at reasonable speeds, and any changes will unduly compromise the necessary forest clearance processes.
- Exemption from obtaining prior approval under Section 2 of FCA for various projects interferes with rights/procedures under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
This submission also outlines recommendations with respect to FCA, going forward. The importance of inculcating biodiversity offsetting as opposed to mere compensatory afforestation, the need for an ecosystem-based interpretation and a wildlife habitat-based approach for the term ‘forest’ have been suggested.
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About the Authors
Debadityo is a Senior Resident Fellow and Lead, the Climate & Ecosystems team at Vidhi. His research interest lies in the intersection of ecology, law, and policy. He graduated with B.Sc. (Hons) in Zoology from the University of Delhi in 2009 and completed M.Sc. (Tech.) Environmental Science & Technology from Banaras Hindu University in 2012. He has also undertaken training on Tropical Forest Restoration from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 2016. He has over 12 years of professional experience in issues related to the environment and wildlife protection. In the past, he has worked with organizations like Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre, Legal Initiative for Forest & Environment, WWF-India, Wildlife Trust of India and several grassroots organizations. He is founder and trustee of Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation (since 2012). He is a recipient of the Sanctuary Wildlife Service Award' (2019) and is member of IUCN-Species Survival Commission’s Bear Specialist Group and EKOenergy network, Helsinki. Debadityo has also initiated litigations in the National Green Tribunal on issues related to environmental clearance, declaration of eco-sensitive zones and compensation for environmental damage.
Sneha is a Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi, Karnataka working on urban development and municipal governance. She is interested in constitutional law, international law, local governance. She holds an undergraduate degree in law from Symbiosis Law School, Pune and obtained the BCL from the University of Oxford.
Deepa is a Research Fellow at Vidhi, Karnataka. Her research interests lie in the interplay between technology, data and urban policy. Prior to joining Vidhi, Deepa interned with Aapti Institute where she researched on data stewardship models and the governance of non-personal data. She holds an undergraduate degree in law from School of Law, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore.
Mridhu was a Research Fellow with the Climate and Ecosystems team at Vidhi. Before joining Vidhi, she has worked at Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), New Delhi and at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), Bangalore. In between, she also volunteered for Conservation International, USA, and pursued an academic project with Prerna Singh Bindra, former member of the Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife. She has also worked on Implementation of India's Biological Diversity Act, Assessment of Forest and Wildlife Clearances, Sensitization of Forest Department on Forest Rights Act, and Conservation and Sustainable Use of Wetlands and Grasslands. Mridhu holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College for Women and a Master's degree in Environmental Economics from TERI University. She enjoys spending her free time either reading world history books or drawing and painting.
