In the wake of the Joint Parliamentary Committee’s approval of all amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, several states in the Northeast, including Nagaland, have raised objections to a contentious clause within the bill. The clause in question pertains to exempting forest clearance within 100 km along the international border.
The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 aims to amend the existing Forest Conservation Act, 1980, which serves as the principal legislation governing deforestation in India. The Forest Conservation Act, 1980, prohibits the felling of forests for non-forestry purposes without prior clearance from the central government. The process involves obtaining consent from local forest rights holders and wildlife authorities. The central government has the authority to either reject such requests or approve them with legally binding conditions.
The amendment bill seeks to exempt forest land within 100 km of India’s international border, allowing it to be utilized for national security projects, small roadside amenities, and public roads leading to habitation. In response to this, the Nagaland State in its submission to the committee said that the entire Nagaland State will be excluded. The states claimed that the uniform 100 km exemption needs to be ‘removed’ as the sensitivity of the Indo-Myanmar border is not comparable to that of the Indo-China or Indo-Pakistan borders.
“Further, the entire 100 km belt falls within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, one of the richest areas in terms of gene pool diversity in the entire world,” Nagaland added.
Additionally, the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill, 2023, also excludes two categories of land from the Forest Conservation Act, 1980: land recorded as forest before October 25, 1980, but not officially notified as forest, and land that transitioned from forest use to non-forest use before December 12, 1996.
To this, Nagaland also submitted that most forest areas in the state are not recorded as forests as no land records are maintained. “There is no mention of how specifically the privately and community owned areas in the State will be treated. It is submitted that a specific insertion may be made keeping the private (naturally grown) forest areas out of the purview of the act to remove any ambiguity,” the state added.
The amendment bill also gives blanket exemption to projects like check posts, fencing, bridges, running zoos, safaris, and eco-tourism facilities. Critics have strongly condemned the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, asserting that it dilutes crucial protections for forests, especially in the ecologically sensitive North Eastern States. They argue that the proposed exemptions may exacerbate the already declining forest cover and wildlife in the region.
According to the biennial India’s State of Forest Report 2021 published by the Forest Survey of Indian, the northeastern states of India — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Sikkim — have lost 1,020 square kilometers of forest during 2019-2021,
Meanwhile, Mokokchung’s total forest cover including very dense forest, moderately dense forest and open forest was reported to be 1,349 which declined to 1,327.61 in 2019, a loss of 21.39 Sq Kms in just eight years. During the same period, Nagaland’s Forest cover declined from 13,318 Sq Kms to 12,486.40 Sq Kms, losing 831.6 Sq Kms of forest cover.
Reacting to the bill, Mizoram and Sikkim have echoed Nagaland’s opinions and submitted statements expressing their strong objections to the bill. Mizoram highlighted that almost the entire state lies within 100 km of the international border, making the exemption clause ‘disastrous’ for its forest and wildlife areas. Sikkim has recommended reducing the exemption distance to 2 km in its geographical context, while Tripura suggests a reduction to 10 km. Interestingly, Arunachal Pradesh has proposed increasing the distance to 150 km.
Notably, earlier this month, more than 100 former civil servants, members of the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), have written to all members of parliament expressing their concerns with the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023. The group expressed its worry about both the contents of the bill and the process followed in its passage.