4 Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980

Dr. Shruti Goyal

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

In-depth understanding of e Forest (Conservation) Act ,1980
Scope and Application of the Act.
Procedure for granting approval under the Act
Understanding the role of Judiciary in Forest Conservation.

Introduction

Forest is a valuable component of human environment and for subsistence of human beings one third of the area of the land should be under forests. A forest contain essential timber as well as non-timber products, provide a pool for biodiversity, acts as a catalyst to maintain global temperature and also serves as a habitat to forest dwelling scheduled tribes and other forest dwelling communities. Forests were in abundance in ancient India and the Indian culture, religion; traditions stressed the importance of preservation of forests. However, with the passage of time and with development in human technologies the forest cover started reducing. Apart from the developmental maladies, the colonial policies in India were purely exploitative and did not stress upon conservation. The Britishers exploited the forests to protect their mercantile interest and also exploited it to meet the demands of their army and navy.

The forests in India were regulated through the Forests Act of 1865 and 1878. In 1927, the Britishers enacted the Indian Forests Act, 1927 to consolidate the law relating to forests, the transit of forest produce and the duty leviable on timber and other forest-produce. The Act imposes governmental control over forests by classifying them into reserved forests, protected forests and village forests. It is pertinent to note that this classification denotes the differential government control over forests and has no relevance as far as conservation of forests is concerned. The Act prescribes a maximum punishment of six months and fine of rupees 500 in case a person is found guilty of felling trees or clearing land in government forests. This punishment is too inadequate. However, this Act along with state Acts dominated the scenario of Indian forests till 1970’s.

In 1972, United Nations’s Conference of human Environment was held at Stockolm. It raised worldwide consciousness about environment. India too felt the need of preserving and conserving forests. In, 1976 the Indian Constitution was amended by virtue of Forty Second Amendment and Articles 48-A (Directive Principles of State Policy) and 51-A (g) (Fundamental Duty) was added. Article 48-A mandates that the State shall endeavor to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country. Article 51-A (g) imposes a fundamental duty on every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life and to have compassion for living creatures. Thus, a need was felt to conserve forests. This led to the passage of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

Objective of the Forest (Conservation) Act

The Act has been enacted with the object of conservation of the forests. This is evident from the statement of objects and reasons annexed to the Act. It reads as under:-

Deforestation causes ecological imbalance and leads to environmental deterioration. Deforestation had been taking place on a large scale in the country and it had caused wide-spread concerned.
With a view to checking further deforestation, the President promulgated on the 25th October, 1980, the Forest (Conservation) Ordinance, 1980

The Forest (Conservation) Act came into force on 25th October, 1980 and repealed the Forest (Conservation) Ordinance, 1980. It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir

Overview of the Act

The Act is a small piece of legislation and contains five sections in total. The Act has been amended in 1988 and 2010. Section 1 of the Act talk about the title of the Act, the territorial applicability and the date of commencement of the Act. Section 2 talks about the restriction on the de-reservation of forests or use of forest land for non-forest purpose. Section 2 A provides for appeal to National Green Tribunal in case any person is aggrieved by an order or decision of the State Government or other authority made under section 2. Section 3 talks about constitution of Advisory Committee. Section 3 A prescribes penalty for contravening the provisions of the Act. Section 3 B prescribes punishment for offences committed by authorities and Government departments. Section 4 authorises the Central Government to make rules for carrying out the provisions of the Act. section 5 repeals the Forest (Conservation) Ordinance, 1980.

Salient Features of the Act

The Act was enacted with the objective of conserving the forests. Therefore, the emphasis is on checking the conversion of forest lands for non-forest purposes. The salient features of the Act are:

The State Government has been empowered under this Act to use the forests only for forestry purposes.
If the State government wants to use it in any other way, then it has to take prior approval of Central Government.
The Act talks about the constitution of an advisory committee to advice the Central Government in matter concerning the grant of an approval for de-reserving forests for non-forest purposes.
Any illegal non-forest activity within a forest area can be immediately stopped under this Act. Forest officers and their staff administer the Forest Act.
The Act deals with four categories of the forests, namely reserved forests, village forests, protected forests and private forests.
The Act is supplemented by the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2003. These Rules have suppressed the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 1981 except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession.
The Act is also supplemented by a number of Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

Restriction on the de-reservation of forests or use of forest land for non-forest purpose

In order to conserve forests, section 2 of the Act puts restriction on the power of state government as well as any other authority from de-reserving forests and use of the forest land for non-forest purposes. The provisions are:

Restrictions on the use of forests for non-forest purposes;
Restrictions on the de-reservation of reserve forests;
Regulation concerning the diversion of forest lands by way of lease to or to any authority, corporation, agency or any other organisation not owned, managed or controlled by Government; and
Restriction on the clear felling of trees.

The term “non-forest purpose” means the breaking up or clearing of any forest land for the cultivation of tea, coffee, spices, rubber, palms, oil-bearing plants, horticulture crops, medicinal plants or any purpose other than re-afforestation. However, it does not include any work relating to conservation, development and management of forests and wild-life. For example, the establishment of check-posts, fire lines, wireless communications and construction of fencing, bridges and culverts, dams, waterholes, trench marks, boundary marks, pipelines or other like purposes are allowed.

However, the forests can be de-reserved forests and use of the forest land for non-forest purposes can be allowed with the

Procedure for approval from Central Government

Every user agency (person, organisation, Company, Department of the Central or State Government) that wants to use any forest land for non-forest purposes shall make a proposal to the Nodal Officer of the concerned State Government or the Union territory Administration as the case may be along with requisite information and documents. If the Nodal Officer of the State Government or the Union territory Administration (as the case may be) are satisfied that the proposal is complete in all respects then they shall send the proposal to the concerned Divisional Forest Officer and the District Collector within a period of ten days of the receipt of the proposal. If the Nodal Officer of the State Government or the Union territory Administration (as the case may be) finds that the proposal is incomplete, he shall return it to the User Agency within a period of ten days.

The Divisional Forest Officer shall examine the factual details and feasibility of the proposal, certify the maps, carry out site-inspection and enumeration of the trees and forward his findings to the Conservator of Forests. The Conservator of Forests shall examine the factual details and feasibility of the proposal, carry out site-inspection in case the area of forest land proposed to be diverted is more than forty hectares, and forward the proposal along with his recommendations to the Nodal Officer. The Nodal Officer, through the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest shall forward the proposal to the State Government or the Union territory Administration (as the case may be) along with his recommendations.

If the State Government or the Union territory Administration (as the case may be) decides not to de-reserve or divert for non-forest purpose or assign on lease the forest land indicated in the proposal, the same shall be intimated to the user agency within thirty days of the receipt of proposal from the Nodal officer. If the State Government or the Union territory Administration( as the case may be) , agrees in-principle to de-reserve or divert for non-forest purpose or assign on lease the forest land indicated in the proposal, it shall forward the same to the central government within thirty days along with its recommendations.

The Central Government shall refer every proposal to the advisory committee for its advice.

Constitution of the Advisory Committee

The Central government shall grant approval on the advise of Advisory Committee. Section 3 of the Act talks empowers the Central Government to constitute an Advisory Committee. This committee is known as Forest Advisory Committee. The function of this committee is to advise the central government on:

matters regarding grant of approval for converting a forest into non-forest purpose;
Any other matter connected with the conservation of forests which may be referred toit by the Central Government.

Composition of the Committee

The Committee shall be composed of the following members:

Director General of Forests, Ministry of Environment and Forests;
Additional Director General of Forests, Ministry of Environment and Forests
Additional Commissioner (Soil Conservation), Ministry of Agriculture
Three non-official members who shall be experts one each in Mining, Civil Engineering and Development
Inspector General of Forests (Forest Conservation), Ministry of Environment and Forests

The Director General of Forests, Ministry of Environment and Forests shall be the chairperson of the committee and in his absence Additional Director General of Forests shall act as the Chairperson. The Inspector General of Forests (Forest Conservation), Ministry of Environment and Forests shall be the member secretary.

Meetings of the Committee

The Chairperson shall call the meeting of the Committee whenever considered necessary but not less than once in a month. He shall preside over every meeting of the Committee at which he is present. Every question upon which the Central Government is required to be advised shall be considered in the meeting. In cases of urgency, if the meeting cannot be convened within a month then the Chairperson may direct that papers may be circulated and sent to the members for their opinion within the stipulated time. The quorum of the meeting of the Committee shall be three.

The meeting of the Committee shall be held at New Delhi. However, in cases where the Chairperson is satisfied that inspection of site or sites of forest land proposed to be used for non-forest purposes is necessary or expedient in connection with the consideration of the proposal or proposals then he may direct that the meetings of the Committee to be held at a place where such inspection of site or sites is necessary.

In addition to the Forest Advisory Committee, a Regional Empowered Committee shall also be constituted at each of the Regional Offices. The Regional Empowered Committee shall consist of (i) the Regional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Central); (ii) three non-official members who shall be experts one each in Mining, Civil Engineering and Development Economics and (iii) the Conservator of Forests or the Deputy Conservator of Forests in the Regional Office. The Regional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Central) shall be the chairperson and the Conservator of Forests or the Deputy Conservator of Forests shall be the Member Secretary.

Factors to be kept in mind by the Committee

The Act mandates that every proposal received by the central government for conversion of forest land into non-forest purpose has to be referred to the Committee for its advice. The Committee take into account the following factors while tendering advice:

whether the forests land proposed to be used for non-forest purpose forms part of a nature reserve, national park wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or forms part of the habitat or any endangered or threatened species of flora and fauna or of an area lying in severely eroded catchment;
whether the use of any forest land is for agricultural purposes or for the rehabilitation of persons displaced from their residences by reason of any river valley or hydro-electric project ;
whether the State Government or the Union territory Administration (as the case may be) has certified that it has considered all other alternatives and that no other alternatives in the circumstances are feasible and that the required area is the minimum needed for the purpose; and
whether the State Government or the Union territory Administration (as the case may be) undertakes to provide at its cost for the acquisition of land of an equivalent area and afforestation thereof.
whether the per unit requirement of forest land is significantly higher than the national average for similar projects; and
whether the State Government or the Union territory Administration (as the case may be) before making their recommendation has considered all issues having direct and indirect impact of the diversion of forest land on forest, wildlife and environment.

The Committee may also suggest any conditions or restrictions on the use of any forest land for any non-forest purpose which in its opinion would minimize adverse environmental impact.

Grant or refusal of Approval by the Central Government

The Central Government may grant approval to the proposal or may reject it. While doing so, it shall consider the advice given to it by the Committee and make such further enquiry as it may consider necessary. The approval may be granted in-principle approval subject to fulfillment of stipulated conditions.

Appeal

Any person aggrieved by an order or decision of the State Government or other authority made under section 2 may file an appeal to the National Green Tribunal. The National Green Tribunal has been established under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. (Section 2A)

Offences under the Act

Sections 3A and 3 B prescribe criminal penalty for violating the provisions of the Act. These sections were added by an amendment in 1988 to provide more teeth to the Act. The offences are:

If a person contravenes or abets the contravention of any of the provisions of Section 2, then he shall be liable for punishment with simple imprisonment for a period which may extend to fifteen days. (Section 3A)
Where any offence under this Act has been committed by any department of Government, then the head of the department shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. However, he will not be liable for any punishment if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence. Further, if the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of or is attributable to any neglect on the part of any officer other than the head of the department, then such person shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. (Section 3B)
Where any offence under this Act has been committed by any authority, every person who at the time the offence was committed was directly in charge of and was responsible to the authority for the conduct of the business of the authority as well as the authority shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished

accordingly. However, if any person proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence, then he will not be liable for any punishment. Further, if the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of or is attributable to any neglect on the part of any person other than the authority, then such person shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. (Section 3B)

Judiciary and Forest Conservation

The judiciary has played an important role in protecting forests. The most important word in the Forest Conservation Act is the word “forest” and “forest land”. The Court in the case of T.N. Godavarman Thirumulkpad vs. Union of India and Others, [ (1997) 2 SCC 267] interpreted these words. The court said that the word “forest” must be understood according to its dictionary meaning. This description covers all statutorily recognized forests whether designated as reserved, protected or otherwise. The term “forest land” will not only include “forest” as understood in the dictionary sense but also any area recorded as forest in the Government record irrespective of the ownership. Therefore, the provisions made for the conservation of forests under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 must apply to all forests irrespective of the nature of ownership or classification thereof.

The Court in this case further directed that in view of the meaning of the word “forest”, it is obvious that prior approval of the Central Government is required for any non-forest activity within the area of any “forest”. Accordingly, all on-going activity within any forest in any State throughout the country, without the prior approval of the Central Government, must cease forthwith. It is, therefore, clear that the running of saw mills of any kind including veneer or ply-wood mills and mining of any mineral are non-forest purposes and are not permissible without prior approval of the Central Government. Every State Government must promptly ensure total cessation of all such activities forthwith.

Conclusion

The thrust for economic development and the need for protection of forest resources have put a challenge for the developing country like India. The Forest Conservation Act, 1980 was enacted with a view to check further deforestation which ultimately results in ecological imbalance. There is need to follow the path of sustainable development so that the country progresses along with maintainability of ecological balance.

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REFERENCES

The Forest (Conservation) Act,1980
Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2003
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Amisha Jain and Dr. Rama Sharma, The Indian Forest Rights Act, 2006: Salient Features, Scope and 2012 Amendment Rules, International Journal of Social Science and Humanities, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 095-108.