No More ‘Deemed Forests’, Says Odisha Government

Relevance: GS3 - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, GS2- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

(Source: The Hindu, 08/15/2023 )

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Why in the news?

• According to a letter sent by the Odisha government to district officials, the category of deemed forests did not exist hereafter and industry requests to divert forest land for non-forestry purposes must conform with the amended Forest Act.
• The Forest Act, 1980, also known as the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam only accorded protection to forests that are notified in government and revenue records on or after 1980.

What are deemed forests?

• Deemed forest refers to land that resembles forests but has not been recognized as such by either the Union or the States.
• They account for about 1% of the total forest land in the country.
• In 1996, the Supreme Court expanded the remit of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Act to areas that weren’t notified as forests but conformed to the “dictionary” definition of forests i.e. deemed forests.
  • The Godavarman verdict stated that the states must identify and categorize such land.
  • The SC directed the states to establish Expert committees to determine deemed forests in order to clarify the area that may be protected under the Forest (Conservation) Act.
• According to the Forest Act, land cannot be diverted without the consent of the Centre as well as gram panchayats in the regions.
  • It serves as a deterrent to deforestation by directing the parties responsible for diverting forest land to grow trees on a plot of land equivalent to twice the razed area and imposing a significant monetary penalty.

What does the Odisha government directive mention?

• All district collectors must ensure that the diversion of forest land for infrastructure projects, particularly state development projects, should follow provisions of the new law.
• Any survey or exploration will also not be treated as a non-forestry activity.

Expert Committees

• Although all the states were expected to form expert committees to identify deemed forests, not all States submitted their reports.
  • This has left states with enough leeway in defining or omitting large parcels of land as forests.
• According to the Union Ministry of Environment, the amendments to the 1980 Act were necessary to remove ambiguities and clarify the application of the laws.
• According to the amended act, the Forest Conservation Act would not apply to notified forest land that was legally diverted for non-forest uses between 1980 and 1996.
  • As a result, forest land that was not specifically notified as such would cease to be protected under the provisions of the Act.
• The Union Environment Ministry had earlier stated that deemed forests would continue to be protected.
  • The amendments made to the FCA recognized deemed forest lands, which had been identified by the Expert Committee of the State. Therefore the provisions of the Act will be applicable in such lands also.

Future unclear

• According to the latest Forest Survey of India, Odisha has approximately 52,156 square km or 130 lakh acres of forest coverage.
  • This amounts to 33.50% of the State’s geographical area, which is much higher than the national level of forest cover - 21.71%.
• Since 1996, around 66 lakh acres have been identified as deemed forests in Odisha.
  • However, a majority of this land has not been officially notified in the government records.
• This amounts to about 40-50% of Odisha’s forest land.
• In addition, there are several community forests that are managed by tribal and forest-dependent groups while several have land title rights under the provisions of the separate Forest Rights Act.
  • The decision of the Odisha government that deemed forests have ceased to exist means that these will face an uncertain future.
• One consequence of the new amendments is that there will be no check on forest diversion, making it easier to divert forest land.
  • According to data from the Union Coal and Mining Ministry, of the 19,200 hectares of forest land that have been diverted nationally for mining between 2017-2022, around 8,000 hectares was from Odisha.
• The reality on the ground is that most of the forest officer bureaucracy isn’t too keen on protecting forest rights

Impact

• The Adivasi communities of Odisha depend on the deemed forests for their livelihood.
  • These include some of the community-protected forests and bio-cultural habitats of vulnerable tribal groups such as the Dongria Kondhs in Niyamgiri.
  • The removal of deemed forest areas from the Act could adversely affect the statutory rights of these communities which have claimed community forest rights and habitat rights on such forests
• Around 46% of Odisha’s geographical area is notified as fifth schedule area under the Constitution, where the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act applies.
• Boundary disputes: In Karnataka, people have alleged that large amounts of agriculture and non-forest land are “unscientifically” classified as deemed forest land.
  • This was found to have caused undue hardship to farmers in the region and restricted industrial development.

Criticism

• Deemed forests already identified as forests in records ‘held’ by any department or administration should be considered as ‘forest’ even by the new amendment.
  • However, the directive of the Odisha government violates this.
• It is uncertain if the amendment is yet to be considered to be law as the date of enforcement is yet to be notified.
  • The government has temporarily withdrawn the notification until the Union Government establishes the rules and guidelines of the new act.
• The amendment narrows down the definition of forests.
  • As a result, vast tracts of forests are excluded which leaves them vulnerable to destruction.

FAQs

MCQs

Question: Consider the following statements:

1. As per recent amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927, forest dwellers have the right to fell the bamboos grown on forest areas.
2. As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, bamboo is a minor forest produce.
3. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 allows ownership of minor forest produce to forest dwellers.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (UPSC CSE 2019)

(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