India can draw suitable inspiration from other countries and ensure that the will of the Government matches the urgency to stem the dwindling forest cover. It must resist pressure from vested interests
The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India’s report on compensatory afforestation has slammed the Union Ministry of Environment & Forests for its inefficiency in raising green cover through compensatory afforestation in the country. At a time when the forests are depleting faster than trees being planted, the CAG has also observed in its report the inability of the ministry in preventing the violation of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and norms by project promoters in various States.
According to the report, 1,14,877 hectares of forest land was provided for non-forestry use, and in some cases for mining purposes, in total violation of environmental laws. The user agencies were expected to provide 1,03,382 hectares of non-forest land between 2006 and 2012. However, the project promoters were allowed to get away with providing only 28,086 hectares. The CAG also highlighted the free run that corporate house are having over forest land in States such as Goa and Jharkhand.
This state of affairs is made worse by a timid Union Government that has been unable to implement the law. For instance, the Government issued penal provisions in only three cases between August 2009 and October 2012, and even this was limited to issuing show-cause notices. Yet another issue raised by the CAG report was regarding the utilisation of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund. The CAF was set up with the objective that where the forest-land was allocated for non-forest purposes, the users were required to pay compensation into CAF, which would then be used, for forest regeneration, management, infrastructure development and wildlife protection. However the fund has remained under-utilised at the expense of ramping up green cover, in spite of the fund increasing substantially over the years.
But the CAG report has been the sounding of alarm. The process of rectification needs to be concentrated on by the Government and probably be followed up and watched over by NGOs to ensure that the next CAG report reads better than this one. To start with, the Environment & Forests Ministry can salvage its image by cutting down on the numerous instances of unauthorised renewal of leases, illegal mining, continuance of mining leases despite adverse comments in the monitoring reports.
In addition to this, a zero tolerance policy should be adopted by the authorities for projects operating without environment clearances.Empowerment and involvement of NGOs with adequate local representation on the other hand would help to a great extent in prevention of unauthorised change of status of forest land and arbitrariness in forestry clearances. The State Governments also need sensitisation and better coordination with the Environment & Forests Ministry, given the fact that the CAG report mentions 219 cases where the concerned State Government has renewed mining leases without the approval of the ministry. Besides this, the ministry needs to increase its due diligence and cost benefit analysis practices particularly pertaining to granting of forest clearance under the FCA, 1980.
Globally afforestation is the subject of much research, importance and radical initiatives. Unlike in India, the instances of a lax Government criss-crossing with selfish corporate interests, aided by corruption, are rare elsewhere, and environment conservation is accorded top priority.
Take for instance, China, which, over the past decades, exhausted its historically-wooded areas. It has embarked on an ambitious venture of afforestation. As part of the initiative, till date an impressive 47,000 square km of afforestation has been achieved. China also ensured that stringent laws were promulgated and implemented to further speed up afforestation. For instance, a law requires every citizen over the age of 11 years to plant a tree an year. Given the population, this law would surely deliver the desired results.
In other parts of the world, such as the in European Union, farmers have been sensitised and motivated towards afforestation since 1990; various benefits have been offered including monetary incentives. As a result, between 1993 and 1997 the EU was able to put forth an exemplary afforestation figure of 5000sq km.
In addition to these initiatives, countries such as the UK have relied on the carbon emission offset method to increase the green cover. launched in January 2013 as The Woodland Carbon Code, the code encourages corporations and land-owners to increase green cover to offset their carbon emissions.
Given this spectrum of developments worldwide, India can draw suitable inspiration and ensure that the will of the Government matches the urgency to stem dwindling forest cover and simultaneously discourage pressure groups acting on behalf of corporate houses, so that true impetus is given to afforestation.