Ishika Roy, Pune
The Lok Sabha passed the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill on July 26, 2023, without any changes to the original Bill introduced earlier this year in March to amend the Forest Conservation Act, of 1980. The Act ensured due compensation for any land that was being used for non-forestry purposes, along with remitting land beyond the official ‘forest’ capacity by way of private entity leasing.
The fresh amendment introduced clauses such as specifying the types of land that were deemed inapplicable by the previous 1980 Act to encourage plantation cultivation on non-forestry land that would boost tree cover and become a carbon sink- furthering India’s agenda to have ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by the year 2070. The amendment also makes it easy to create infrastructure for national security and thereby increase employment and livelihood opportunities by removing restrictions on forest peripheries.
The Opposition stated that these amendments watered down the gravity of the 1996 Supreme Court judgment of Godavarman, which extended legal protection to wide tracts of forests, be it recorded or unrecorded. The tracts of land surrounding bordering areas were also under dispute. There was discontent around the nomenclature of the Act. Van Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan Adhiniyam, which roughly translated to Forest Conservation and Augmentation Act, was apparently not very inclusive and was discriminatory to the Southern and Eastern population of India.
Shri Bhupender Yadav, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, answered the Opposition by saying that provisions in the amended Bill would help soldiers stationed in sub-zero temperatures get easier and more convenient access to roads and infrastructure. “People are hesitant to plant private plantations for fear that forest laws will prevent them from cutting those trees. We have made changes, via the Bill, to improve agro-forestry. This Act will be a milestone one for India.”