#LCWThread
Notified in June 2022, the Union government's new forest conservation rules were slated to ease industrial projects on forests.

In our latest, @prudhvirr
writes about new documents which reveal how it helps miners and developers dodge protections to save forests. 1/16

For every forest cleared for projects, industries are required to identify non-forest land (equal in area) for compensatory afforestation (CA). If such land is not available, afforestation can be done on degraded forests (for twice the area of forests cleared). 2/16

These new rules come at a time when project developers and state governments complain of a ‘land crisis’. They claim difficulty in identifying non-forest lands for compensatory afforestation. 3/16

Identification of such lands and subsequently verifying them was seen as "major bottlenecks" by the government. Here's an excerpt from an Environment ministry's internal document that talks about streamlining the forest clearance process. 4/16

The ministry's internal documents on the new rules, accessed through RTI replies, reveal that the changes were done to remove this bottleneck and facilitate quick passage to project approvals. 5/16

The new changes will also mean trouble for private and deemed forests which can be taken over for compensatory afforestation. The rules, however, do not explicitly mention private or deemed forests. But our review of these documents points to such forests becoming a target. 6/16

The push to utilise private and deemed forests also means that the government is directing states to circumvent a crucial 1996 Supreme Court order. The court instructed the government to protect all forest lands and prevent their destruction for non-forest purposes. 7/16

Existing forests are being diverted at an alarming rate but compensatory afforestation obligations are either unmet or unchecked. Between Apr 2016-Mar 2022, the BJP government cleared licences to cut 99,982 hectares of forests, an area nearly five times the size of Kolkata. 8/16

In one of the Environment ministry’s internal documents, officials admit to not having “complete detail” on the progress of compensatory afforestation done for every forest land cleared. 9/16

In the 2017 amendments to the rules, the Union government directed states to create land banks for compensatory afforestation. Since then, states have identified private and government non-forest lands for creating such land banks. 10/16

States struggling to create land banks are now allowed to include private and deemed forests, as they are not officially recorded as forests. The new rules categorise such land banks as Accredited Compensatory Afforestation (ACA) lands. 11/16

As per the government, ACA lands are those with a tree cover of 40% or more per hectare, or trees that are at least five years old. So, if individuals grow a plantation on non-forest private land, they can be eligible for ACA after five years. 12/16

Earlier the land swapped for compensatory afforestation mandated using twice the area for afforestation, if done on degraded or unclassed forest lands. But now, ACAs with areas the same as the forest being cut down can be considered. 13/16

The new rules also allow concessions to project developers.

These concessions are for compensatory afforestation done in lands that are located in protected areas, eco-sensitive zones or adjacent to a notified forest. 14/16

For instance, if the compensatory afforestation land is next to a national park, then project developers can provide lands which are 15% smaller in size than they are permitted to cut down. 15/16

Read about the implications of the new forest conservation rules in @frontline_india
Here's the full story: Changes in conservation rules ease development projects on forest land - Frontline (thehindu.com)
16/16