Govt to allow pvt sector to manage 40% of forests
The government is set to throw open the management of up to 40% of forests to the private sector to revive degraded forests but experts warn it may destroy ecosystems and deprive local communities of their livelihood.
The environment ministry issued guidelines to the states last month arguing that it didn’t have the resources to manage forests well and laid down the procedure to lease out degraded forests to private firms, who would “carry out afforestation and extract timber”.
For over a century, these forests have been under government control and the latest move comes after decades of lobbying by forest-based industries, sources said.
“It has been felt that ongoing national afforestry programmes have not been able to make the desired impact in improving productivity and quality of forest cover due to a lack of sufficient investment, capacity, technological upgradation and adequate skilled manpower,” said the guidelines, a copy of which was accessed by HT.
“There is need to look at options including how private sector can contribute in improving and restoring forest landscapes apart from meeting the vital requirement of various forest products.”
The document showed the ministry intended to introduce new rules to allow private participation in forest management because the forest conservation act allows diversion of forest land only for development projects and not plantation.
The country has around 69 million hectares of forest cover, out of which about 40% is categorised as open forests or scrubs — together called “degraded forests” — which have less than 40% canopy cover.
But experts cautioned the scheme was likely to convert natural forests into monoculture industrial plantations because the guidelines prohibited firms from planting the same species of trees in only 10- 15% of the leased area.
“Even the most degraded natural forests have 50- 100 species of trees per hectare. Fo r their end products, industries would hardly plant one or two species,” said a former director of the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal.
“The natural ecosystems are complex and sensitive. Removing 95-98% of species for growing 1- 2 species may result in fast degradation.”
The guidelines also said tribal communities could access non- timber forest produce in only 10- 15% of the leased- out area — a violation of the forest rights act that recognises forest dwellers’ rights to forestland and its resources, experts argued.
Director general of forests SS Negi refused to comment. “I don’t remember if we have sent the guidelines to the states. I don’t remember its details,” he said. The documents with HT show the guidelines were sent to the Madhya Pradesh forest department on August 11.
The scheme will first be implemented on forests with less than 10% canopy cover and identified parcels would be open for competitive bidding by public listed companies, co- operatives, public sector undertakings, charitable public trusts and foundations.
The guidelines go against the National Forest Policy 1988, which says the primary use of forests should be for environmental benefits and the needs of local communities.
“We refused such demands a couple of years ago. But there has been constant pressure for more than a year from within the government. The ministry is now even planning to amend the national forest policy,” said a ministry official.