How The Amended Forest (Conservation) Act Imperils The Northeast

Relevance: GS2 - Government Policies and Interventions GS3 - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

(Source: The Hindu, 09/06/2023 )

Click here for Daily Current Affairs

Why in the news?

• Recently, the Mizoram Assembly unanimously passed a resolution opposing the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023, to protect the rights and interests of the people of Mizoram.
• The Forest (Conservation) Act, 2023 which aims to make significant changes to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 such as raising plantations to build forest carbon stock and making land available for compensatory afforestation was passed by Parliament.

Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act 2023

• The FCA was renamed the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980.
• Aim: To clarify and enhance the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
• Definition of forests: Only those lands that were notified as ‘forest’ under the Indian Forest Act 1927, other relevant laws or were recorded as ‘forests’ in government records will be acknowledged as ‘forests’.

• Exemptions: Lands within 100 Km of the national border are exempted from having to obtain permissions to clear forests to construct “strategic linear projects of national importance”.
  • This includes projects of national security, roadside amenities, and public roads.
• Permitted activities: The Act permits non-forest activities such as running zoos and eco-tourism facilities on forest lands.
• Concerns: Land that is not classified officially as ‘forests’ is opened to commercial activity
  • The checks and balances in the previous version of the Act are removed.
  • The bill was not referred to the relevant Parliamentary Standing Committee before being passed by Parliament.
  • The Ministry of Tribal Affairs had raised concerns about the amendment’s effect on community rights granted by the Forest Rights Act 2006.

Is the FCA applicable to the north east?

• Article 371A and Article 371G which apply to Nagaland and Mizoram respectively prohibit the application of certain laws enacted by Parliament that impinge on Naga and Mizo customary law and procedure, and ownership and transfer of land and its resources.
• Nagaland extended the FCA’s application to government forests and other forests and Wildlife Sanctuaries under the control of the State Government.
  • However, conflicting statements from various union ministries mean that the status of the FCA is uncertain.
• The Union Territory of Mizoram was converted into a state in 1986 through the 53rd Constitutional Amendment Act.
  • The Act states that all Central Acts in force before 1986 are extended to the State, including the FCA.
• Additionally, the authority of Autonomous councils in the Sixth Schedule regions of Mizoram does not extend to reserved forests.
  • The FCA covers 84.53% of notified forests in the state.
• The FCA is applicable in the other states of Northeast India including Meghalaya, Tripura, the Sixth Schedule Areas within these states, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Manipur.
• In terms of FCA clearance, Arunachal Pradesh was ranked first (21,786.45 ha), followed by Tripura (9,051 ha), Assam (5,261 ha), Manipur (3,604 ha), Sikkim (2,902 ha), and Meghalaya (807 ha).

Recorded Forest Area (RFA) and Unclassed Forests

• In the Godavarman Thirumulpad v Union of India (1996), the Supreme Court expanded the term “forest land” under the FCA to include any area recorded as forests in government records irrespective of the ownership.
  • Unclassed forests were brought under the FCA’s purview in all states except Nagaland.
• More than half of the Northeast is Recorded Forest Area (RFA) of which 53% are unclassed forests controlled by individuals, clans, village councils, or communities, and governed by customary law and procedures, and the remainder is notified forests controlled by the State Forest Departments.
• RFA ranges from 34.21% in Assam to 82.31% in Sikkim and unclassed forests range from nil in Sikkim to 97.29% in Nagaland.
• 38.5% of the forest cover in Assam; 29% in Nagaland; and 1.5% are forests outside RFA and are neither recorded nor surveyed.

The Forest Rights Act (2009) and the Northeast

• According to the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (FRA) 2006, “forest land” includes unclassified forests, undemarcated forests, existing or deemed forests, protected forests, reserved forests, Sanctuaries and National Parks.
• It recognizes rights that are recognized under any state law or laws of any autonomous district council or which are accepted as rights of tribals under any traditional or customary law of the concerned tribes of any State.

Challenges in implementation

• None of the Northeast States have implemented the FRA except for Assam and Tripura.
• The Nagaland Assembly has not yet decided to implement the law while the Meghalaya Assembly reversed its 2009 decision to implement it in 2019.
• The FRA is considered to be irrelevant because most of the land is owned by communities, clans, chiefs, and individuals.
• There is also a lack of forest dwellers who are dependent on the forest.

FRA compliance under FCA

• According to the Environment Ministry, a forest diversion required the implementation of the FRA and the prior consent of the Gram Sabha.
• The District Collector who is also the head of the District Committee to issue FRA titles is responsible for admitting forest diversion proposals.
• However, the Forest Conservation Rules (2022) removed the need for compliance with the FRA before final approval.

Way Forward

• States must establish proper frameworks and legal measures to ensure mandatory fulfillment of the FRA before recommending a forest diversion proposal.
• The consent of the Gram Sabha to the proposal must be ensured before forest land is handed over.
• The rights of forest dwellers must be acknowledged and protected when forests are diverted for other purposes and forest dwellers are relocated.
  • This can be done by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs under the FRA or other specific legislation.

(*Click this link to read prelims specific weekly current affairs articles)

FAQs

MCQs

Question: Consider the following statements:

1. The definition of "Critical Wildlife Habitat" is incorporated in the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
2. For the first time in India, Baigas have been given Habitat Rights.
3. Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change officially decides and declares Habitat Rights for Primitive and Vulnerable Tribal Groups in any part of India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (UPSC CSE 2018)

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Question: Under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, who shall be the authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of individual or community forest rights or both? (UPSC CSE 2013)

(a) State Forest Department

(b) District Collector/Deputy Commissioner

(c) Tahsildar/Block Development Officer/Mandal Revenue Officer

(d) Gram Sabha

Question: At the national level, which ministry is the nodal agency to ensure effective implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006? (UPSC CSE 2021)

(a) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

(b) Ministry of Panchayati Raj

(c) Ministry of Rural Development

(d) Ministry of Tribal Affairs