Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill,2023

Context- The Lok Sabha recently passed the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill,2023. The bill aims to amend the Forest Conservation  Act,1980.

About Forest Conservation Act,1980: 

• It is an important Central statute for the conservation of forests in the country.
• It provides that the dereservation of reserved forests,use of forest land for non-forest purpose,assigning forest land by way of lease or otherwise to private entities and clearing of naturally grown trees for the purpose of deforestation requires prior permission of the Central Government.
• It has empowered the Center for the past four decades,to ensure that any forest land diverted for ‘non-forestry’ purposes is duly compensated. It extends  its remit to land even beyond what is officially classified as ‘forest’ in State and Central government records.

 About Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill,2023: 

• The amendments  made by the bill and now passed  by the Lok Sabha encourages the practice of cultivating plantations on non-forest land which can increase tree cover over time, act as a carbon sink and aid India’s ambitions of having ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2070. 
• It seeks to remove restrictions imposed by the original Act in creating infrastructure that would aid national security and create livelihood opportunities for those living on the periphery of forests.
•  The bill also aims to enable Indian soldiers stationed in subzero temperatures at Ladakh to access better roads and infrastructure.
•  Activities like establishment of Zoos,safaris shall be owned by the government as per plan approved by the Central Zoo authority outside protected areas. 
• Ecotourism as per approved working plan or wildlife Management plan or tiger conservation plan shall take place in forest areas. 
• New provisions of the bill aims to help  secure quick response to natural hazards in the forests like forest fires etc.

Objections to the new amendment:

•  The objections to the new bill has been that the amendments “diluted” the Supreme Court’s 1996 Judgment in the Govardhan Case that extended the protection to wide tracts of forests,even if they were not recorded as forests.
•  The new name of the act Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan ) Adhiniyam translated as Forest (Conservation and Augmentation) Act,instead of the existing Forest (Conservation)Act was non -inclusive and left out the non -hindi speaking south Indian population.

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