Definition of ‘Forest’ (as defined in Indian forest act, 1927 ) is an area occupied by the Government for conservation and management of biological and ecological resources is called a forest.
The constitutional status of the forest:
The private forests are those which are not occupied by the Government. According to the Indian Forests Act, 1927, the Government is commanded to regulate timber cutting and cultivation etc. in private forest land and also allow the state government to capture the forest land for the public purposes.
Public forests are of three types:
These are the forests which are reserved by the Government. More than half of the forest area in India is declared as a Reserve forest. 53% of the total forests in India are the Reserved Forests. For the conservation of the forests and wildlife resources, the Government reserves these forests. The activities like hunting and cutting the trees are strictly banned in these forests. Only on special permissions by the higher authorities, these activities may be performed unless and until there is a valid reason for performing it. According to the Indian Forest Act, 1927, the reserved forests come under chapter II. Some Reserved Forests in India are:
Name of the Reserved Forest
State in which it is present
Hanumasagara Reserve Forest
Begur Reserve Forest
Attappadi Reserve Forest
Sholayar Reserve Forest
According to the Indian Forests Act, 1927, the State Government can give the rights to any village group, which the Government has over any land which has been reserved. Rules for regulating the management of the forest to be made by the State Government. In this type, two interchangeably terms are used- one is the village forest itself and the other one is a forest village, and both are different from each other. The village forest is in legal category under the Indian Forests Act, 1927, whereas the forest village lies in the administrative category in the Act.
Name of the village forest
State where it is located
Dooars, West Bengal
Bhavnagar Amreli Forest
Gir National Park, Amreli district, Gujarat
South of the Kamyaka Forest
The third most classification is “protected forest”. The Indian Forest Act empowers the State Government to use any land as protected forest. It must be noted that these forests are not reserved under the state government. A protected forest can be a reserved forest but a reserved forest cannot be a protected forest. Under these forests, the Government has the power to make rules and restrict uses of the forest. But in the lapsing of these rules, many practices under these forests are allowed. Other than this, the State also has some power to reserve some species of trees in these forests. These powers are provided so that the state can have control over the trees, whose timber, fruits and non-wood products have revenue-raising potential.
The Forest Conservation Act, 1980 is a Central Act of Parliament which conserves the forest. Section 2 of the act makes a provision of a prior approval of the Central Government necessary before a State Government or any other authority that issues direction for reserved forests (which have been reserved under the Indian Forest Act 1927), use of forest land for non–forest purpose, assigning forest land by way of lease or otherwise to any private person or to any authority, corporation, agency or any other organization not owned, managed or controlled by the government and clear felling of naturally grown tree s.
The Forest (Conservation Act), 1980 is applicable to whole India including Jammu and Kashmir. It came into power on 25th October 1980. On this day the Forest (Conservation) Ordinance was also broadcasted.
Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 enforces the restriction on dereservation of forests or use of forests for non-forest purposes. The restrictions are as follows:
Section 2A of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 states that any person is unhappy by the order of the State Government and that some other authorities may file an appeal under Section 3 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 to the National Green Tribunal in accordance with the rules of that act.
The petitioner Tarun Bharat Sangh, who was interested in environmental protection, wanted to make Sariska Tiger Park which is a tiger reserve which was located in Rajasthan, as a reserve forest because many people were illegally using that area for mining. When he asked the State Government then the State Government said it can’t be declared as a reserve forest, but when he said the same to the Supreme Court of India then the Court formed a committee which consisted of the State authorities, forest officers who were experts within chairmanship of a retired judge. After the meeting, the Court ordered not to do mining in that land and the committee should ensure the obedience, enforcement and implementation of the order. And also they were asked to compensate for the damage done.
According to Section 3 of the Act, it is given that the Central Government constitutes of a group of a number of persons on the basis of their knowledge so that they may be enough fit to give advice to the Government with respect to:
According to Section 3A of the Act states that if a person breaks or avoids any of the provisions mentioned under Section 2 of this Act shall be punished with simple imprisonment up to 15 days.
According to Section 3B of this Act, when an offence has been committed by any department of government or by any authority, every person who was present in that time when the offence was committed will be directly charged for the offence and held responsible for it if found to be guilty for the offence than they would be punished. If the head of the department or any person who is accused of an offence, proves that he/she has committed the offence by mistake or without knowledge then he/she will not be held liable for such offences.
The National Forest Policy of 1988 gives the protective duties of the forests in supporting environmental stability and ecological balance.
The general objectives that were ruled the National Forest Policy, 1988 were as follows:
The National Forest Policy (NFP) established the levy of green tax for promoting ecologically responsible behaviour and providing financial resources which are essential to address forestry.
NFP ignores the Forests Rights Act, 2006 which has control only in the area of local Gram panchayat, mainly in tribal places which are close to India’s forests and makes joint forest management for the enchantment of agroforestry.
The policy plans to launch a new community forest management mission, gathering the Government, private land and community under the new planned management system. It wants to make one-third of the Government-owned forests under the community forest management regime by the end of the coming decade. The policy also suggests the contracts within the forest-dependent industries and farmers to make a fixed price and quantity to make a sure supply for the wood industry.
The policy talks about the forest land diversion projects which are related to mining, construction of dams, roads and other small infrastructure which are needed to be chosen for some special cautions. To reduce the pollution and damage, state of the art technology should be used.
The policy says that the National Board of Forestry and State Board of Forestry should be made to ensure the control of the spread in forest areas and management of forest cover.
The policy says that for supplementing the livelihood needs of local communities they must be developed on sound ecotourism models with a focus on conservation. As per the policy, tourism is responsible for any negative impact on wildlife and its inhabitants. Tourism would also be responsible for any reduction in income or loss of revenue of the local communities.
This policy states that climate change should be an important factor if some plans are in all the forest management plans and community management plans.
The policy specifies that for purchasing wildlife corridors from people CMPA (Compensatory afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) funds are to be used.
This policy asks for the management plans for the forest, parks, gardens which are present in cities to nourish and sustain the health and clean air.
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