After 30 years, India is set to get a new National Forest Policy which addresses the new realities – climate change, human-animal conflict and declining green cover.
The ministry of environment, forest and climate change has framed a new draft National Forest Policy 2018 which proposes climate change mitigation through sustainable forest management. The new policy, which aims to bring a minimum one-third of India’s total geographical area under forest cover through scientific interventions and enforcing strict rules to protect the dense cover, will replace the existing one that has been guiding the government to manage forests since 1988. Unlike the previous policies, which stressed on environmental stability and maintenance of ecological balance, the 2018 policy focusses on the international challenge of climate change.
While the ministry has done away with the environment cess that was proposed in the scrapped 2016 draft policy, it has retained several controversial clauses in its 2018 draft.
The environmentalists had seen red in involving private concerns for afforestation and reforestation activities pointing out that this would mean privatisation of India’s natural resources and creating “private forests”. The 2018 draft policy retains this clause saying, “public-private participation models will be developed for undertaking afforestation and reforestation activities in degraded forest areas and forest areas available with Forest Development Corporations and outside forests.”
Ajay Kumar Saxena, forestry expert at Centre for Science and Environment, said: “The draft policy raises more questions than it answers as to how these objectives will be achieved considering the competitive demands for forestlands. It is worth noting that most of the objectives mentioned in 1988 policy have not been met so far. The draft policy orients itself more on the conservation and preservation of forest wealth rather than regenerating them through people’s participation.”
The policy also addresses the issue of human-animal conflict. It proposes short term and long term measures to reduce this. The draft says, “Quick response, dedicated teams of well equipped and trained personnel, mobility, strong interface with health and veterinary services, rescue centres, objective and speedy assessment of damage and quick payment of relief to the victims would be at the core of the short-term action. Monitoring and management of population of wildlife would be adopted on a longterm basis within and outside forests for maintaining the balance.”
The policy does not discuss in detail the contentious issue of diversion of forest land for mining and other purposes.
“Safeguard forest land by exercising strict restraint on diversion for non-forestry purposes, and strict oversight on compliance of the conditions,” is the only reference to diversion. Saxena said, “Although the draft policy mentions the importance of forests in Northeast India, it fails to address the forest diversion issues for projects in the region.”
The policy still does not address the issue of forest rights of forest dwelling tribal communities. “Forest dependent communities have been fighting tooth and nail to get their forest rights recognized and the attitude of forest departments in supporting the law has been discouraging so far,” said Saxena.
The ministry of environment, forest and climate change has framed a new draft National Forest Policy 2018 which proposes climate change mitigation through sustainable forest management. The new policy, which aims to bring a minimum one-third of India’s total geographical area under forest cover through scientific interventions and enforcing strict rules to protect the dense cover, will replace the existing one that has been guiding the government to manage forests since 1988. Unlike the previous policies, which stressed on environmental stability and maintenance of ecological balance, the 2018 policy focusses on the international challenge of climate change.
While the ministry has done away with the environment cess that was proposed in the scrapped 2016 draft policy, it has retained several controversial clauses in its 2018 draft.
The environmentalists had seen red in involving private concerns for afforestation and reforestation activities pointing out that this would mean privatisation of India’s natural resources and creating “private forests”. The 2018 draft policy retains this clause saying, “public-private participation models will be developed for undertaking afforestation and reforestation activities in degraded forest areas and forest areas available with Forest Development Corporations and outside forests.”
Ajay Kumar Saxena, forestry expert at Centre for Science and Environment, said: “The draft policy raises more questions than it answers as to how these objectives will be achieved considering the competitive demands for forestlands. It is worth noting that most of the objectives mentioned in 1988 policy have not been met so far. The draft policy orients itself more on the conservation and preservation of forest wealth rather than regenerating them through people’s participation.”
The policy also addresses the issue of human-animal conflict. It proposes short term and long term measures to reduce this. The draft says, “Quick response, dedicated teams of well equipped and trained personnel, mobility, strong interface with health and veterinary services, rescue centres, objective and speedy assessment of damage and quick payment of relief to the victims would be at the core of the short-term action. Monitoring and management of population of wildlife would be adopted on a longterm basis within and outside forests for maintaining the balance.”
The policy does not discuss in detail the contentious issue of diversion of forest land for mining and other purposes.
“Safeguard forest land by exercising strict restraint on diversion for non-forestry purposes, and strict oversight on compliance of the conditions,” is the only reference to diversion. Saxena said, “Although the draft policy mentions the importance of forests in Northeast India, it fails to address the forest diversion issues for projects in the region.”
The policy still does not address the issue of forest rights of forest dwelling tribal communities. “Forest dependent communities have been fighting tooth and nail to get their forest rights recognized and the attitude of forest departments in supporting the law has been discouraging so far,” said Saxena.
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