Govt releases draft National Forest Policy

The government has made its draft National Forest Policy, to replace the one crafted in 1988. The draft incorporated the consequences of climate change but entirely ignoring one of the three forest related laws, the Forest Rights Act, the policy brings new focus to plantations, growing trees outside forest lands and wood industry. The policy continues with the national goal of a minimum of one-third of the geographical

area under forest or tree cover. But it does away with the goal for hill and mountainous regions to maintain two-thirds of the geographical area under forest cover.

It promised to set up a parallel arrangement to the Forest Rights Act, the policy proposes to launch a new Community Forest Management Mission, bringing government, community and private land under the new proposed management system. The policy was drafted by the Indian Institute of Forest Management, the research arm of the environment ministry, the policy moots that special communities at the gram sabha (village council) level be created to take over management of forests.

The forest departments had previously run participatory forest management systems but with the final veto of the departments over the lands and the use of the resources, the demand for greater rights to tribals and forest-dwellers had picked pace and found political support during the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. This culminated in the Forest Rights Act during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

The draft policy came at a time when the environment ministry is finalising details of investment by the private sector in forestry in government lands, a decision that successive governments have avoided since the 80s. The policy also asks: “Climate change concerns should be effectively factored into all the forest and wildlife areas management plans and community ecosystem management plans.” For the first time, the policy also asks for management plans for community forests, parks, garden and woodlands to be brought to manage urban forest cover and to nurture and sustain urban health, clean air and related benefits.