Amendments proposed to the Forest Conservation Act

 What are the amendments proposed to the Forest Conservation Act and their implications?

On October 2, 2021, MoEFCC released a proposal to amend several aspects of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 (FCA). 

In the Godavarman v Union of India case, the Supreme Court had in 1996 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”, meaning that a forested patch would automatically become a “deemed forest” even if it is not notified as protected. The order was also to plantations in non-forest land.

The proposed amendments seem to change the Court’s definition of forest. The general thrust of the changes is to deregulate forest resources so that they can be exploited even more than now for the sake of ‘development’. The proposed key amendments are:

• All land acquired by the Railways and Roads Ministries prior to 1980 will be exempted from the Act. These Ministries will no longer need clearance for their projects, nor pay compensatory levies to build there.
• For individuals whose lands fall in the category of forest as defined by the Act and the Court Order, the amendment will 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.
• Levies for non-forestry purposes during the renewal of a lease will be scrapped, the argument being that 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.

Environmentalists and activists have these concerns:

• The creation of exceptions to the requirement of forest clearances goes directly against the legal requirement that forest rights be recognized and the consent of the gram sabha be obtained before the conversion of a forest.
• The relaxation of forest rules will facilitate corporate ownership and the disappearance of large tracts of forests.
• With the exemption of forests on private land, many forests will disappear. For instance, 4% land in Uttarakhand falls under private forests.