Editorial 1: Trading forests for trees
Recent Context:
- On March 29, the government introduced The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 in Lok Sabha to make changes to The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
- The predominant idea of the proposed changes is to build forest carbon stock by raising plantations.
- The Bill also seeks to make land available for developers to meet their legal obligation towards compensatory afforestation in lieu of forest land diverted for development projects.
- The Bill tries to achieve both these objectives by restricting the applicability of the FC Act, and by freeing up land that is currently locked up as unrecorded forests
Notification of ‘forest’ File records and field reality
- Following Independence, vast swathes of forest land were designated as reserved and protected forests and brought under state forest departments.
- However, many forested areas were left out and areas without any standing forests were included in ‘forest’ lands.
- The anomalies were supposed to be sorted out through extensive ground surveys — but the process remained incomplete.
- In 1996, the Supreme Court suspended the felling of trees across the country, and ruled that the FC Act would apply to all land parcels that were either recorded as ‘forest’ or resembled the dictionary meaning of forest.
- This sweeping order helped check rampant deforestation on land not recorded as ‘forest’, but it also came in the way of excluding from recorded forests vast areas that were already in use for agriculture or as homesteads.
- The amendment Bill, instead of completing the demarcation process on the ground, seeks to limit the applicability of the FC Act only to land recorded as ‘forest’.
- This will have the effect of removing the protection of the Act from millions of hectares of land that have the characteristics of forests, but are not notified as such.
- How much area will be affected?
- For an idea of the scale, consider the latest State of Forests Report (SFR 2021), which records India’s forest cover as 713,789 sq km. Of this, nearly 28% or 197,159 sq km — roughly the size of Gujarat — is not recorded as ‘forest’.
Projects and plantations
- If the scope of the FC Act is restricted, fewer projects will be required to obtain forest clearance, which is considered a ‘hurdle’ by most developers in and outside the government. But it will also help developers secure forest clearance when they need it.
- A key condition for forest clearance is that a developer must carry out compensatory afforestation on equivalent non-forest land or, if non-forest land is not available, on degraded forest land twice the extent of the forest area diverted.
- Since land is always at a premium, this works as an effective check on the demand for forest land.
- But in June 2022, the government amended the Forest Conservation Rules to propose a mechanism to allow developers to raise plantations “over land on which the [FC] Act is not applicable”, and to swap such plots against subsequent requirements of compensatory afforestation. The proposed amendments are key to the working of this scheme.
- “Once the FC Act is no longer applicable on a land, it can be used to raise plantations and compensate for an equivalent area of diverted forest land.
- This will incentivise building private land banks of plantations, and streamline the forest clearance process,” explained an expert who was consulted on the matter by the Environment Ministry.
- Conservationists see this as a double whammy: losing unrecorded forests to plantations, which will subsequently help to divert recorded forests for projects.
Misuse of exemption within the Rule and proposed amendment in the bill:
- Between July 2014 and November 2017, the construction of defence roads within 100 km of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was exempted from forest clearance.
- Bill now seeks to exempt all strategic linear projects of “national importance and concerning national security” within 100 km of international borders, the LAC, and the Line of Control (LoC). India’s land boundaries extend over 15,000 km.
- Between May 2011 and May 2013, critical public utilities not requiring more than 5 hectares each were exempted from the FC Act in 106 districts affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE).
- This is proposed to be extended to “construction of defence related project or a camp for paramilitary forces or public utility projects, as may be specified by the Central Government…in a Left Wing Extremism affected area as may be notified by the Central Government.”
- Additionally, the amendments seek to exempt “security-related infrastructure” requiring up to 10 hectares, without defining its scope.
- the Bill adds silvicultural operations, construction of zoos and wildlife safaris, eco-tourism facilities, and any other activities “the Central Government may, by order, specify”.
- The proposed exemptions, sweeping in themselves, leave a lot to the Centre to decide retrospectively.
Conclusion: Protecting forests, people; A Path toward sustainable existence:
- Any review of the FC Act is an opportunity to make suitable concessions for land that has traditionally been under the control of indigenous and forest communities.
- Even after the enactment of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, the scope for their consent has eroded incrementally when it came to the diversion of forest land for development projects.
- Now, they may have no say on the extensive plantations that are envisaged on land on which they depend as communities.
- The Bill talks about keeping up with “dynamic changes in the ecological, strategic and economic aspirations of the country” and “improvement of livelihoods for forest-dependent communities.” But the scope of the amendments boils down to pushing plantations to achieve carbon neutrality by limiting the scope of the Act.
- Indeed, compared to stable natural forests, fast-growing plantations score faster carbon growth. Conveniently, both count the same towards increasing the country’s green cover, since India does not discriminate between forests and plantations for the purpose.
- But forests are a lot more than a sum of trees. Unlike man-made plantations, natural forests perform a range of ecosystem services that are key to the survival and well-being of the millions of species that they support, and also provide direct livelihood and subsistence to crores of people.
- Therefore, the deforestation at the Forest land must be minimized and deforestation is permitted then it need to be carried out with due consideration of Social , economic and environment impact of the project while including the voice of local communities.
Editorial 2: Rebalance of Power:
Recent Context:
- Recently visit of China’s President, Xi Jinping’s state visit to Russia from March 21 to 23 is of greater significance than is apparent in most analytical comments in India and abroad.
- It carried forward the promise of the “no-limits partnership” and “no forbidden areas of cooperation” contained in the February 4, 2022, Sino-Russian Joint Statement issued during Russian President Putin’s visit to Beijing for the Winter Olympics.
Bilateral relation of Russian-China, after the Ukraine war:
- The Ukraine war has not diminished Chinese commitment to such partnership; in fact, it has enhanced it. The reasons are two-fold.
- One, China is convinced that the United States and its allies are determined to contain it.
- At the recently concluded session of the National People’s Congress, Xi Jinping said, “Western countries led by the US have implemented all round containment and suppression of China, which has brought unprecedented severe challenges to the country’s development.”
- In this context, the partnership with Russia, also subject to containment by the US and the West, becomes indispensable to pursuing a counter-strategy.
- In other remarks made during the visit, Xi conveyed this with even greater clarity, calling for “an all-encompassing partnership and strategic interaction in a world threatened by acts of hegemony, despotism and bullying”.
- Two, both sides continue to believe that despite their current dominance, the US and the West in general are in terminal decline.
- The balance of power is changing, according to them, in their favour and the change could be hastened if China and Russia were to team up.
- This assessment was dramatically broadcast across the world in a clip, which recorded Putin bidding farewell to Xi Jinping at the end of the visit.
- Xi is heard saying to Putin, “Change is coming that hasn’t happened in a hundred years. And we are driving this change together.” And Putin replies, “I agree.”
- And In the joint statement issued at the end of the visit speak out that
- “Both nations has shared the view that this relationship has gone far beyond the bilateral scope and acquired critical importance for the global landscape and the future of humanity.”
- Therefore, China could hardly pursue a mediatory role between Ukraine and Russia as had been expected by some analysts. And the anticipated phone call between Xi and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy never materialised.
China as a major partner in bilateral relation
- Russia is clearly the junior partner in the Sino-Russian strategic partnership, by compulsion if not by choice.
- China has been able to structure a significantly advantageous economic and energy partnership with Russia.
- During the past year, China’s import of Russian oil has gone up by 8 per cent but of natural gas by 50 per cent. A new pipeline is being planned from the Russian Arctic gas field of Yamal to China through Mongolia.
- This will be the second long-distance gas pipeline, “The Power of Siberia 2”, bringing gas supplies to China overland.
- The long-term effort of China has been to diversify its energy supplies away from the strategically vulnerable maritime route to the more secure landward supply routes from Russia and Central Asia.
- Chinese energy security is enhanced through a long-term energy partnership with Russia and this is also an important driver of the strategic partnership.
How will this unequal partnership affect the relative influence of Russia and China in what Russia describes as its “near neighbourhood” in Central Asia?
- China is convening a summit of Central Asian leaders from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan in May this year. It is increasingly projecting itself as a security guarantor for these countries.
- And these countries look upon Russia, particularly after its invasion of Ukraine, as their main security preoccupation.
- Chinese influence in Central Asia will expand and Russia will have to accept its own diminished role. This may marginalise even the limited presence India has in the region.
Conclusion:
- The rising the position of China in Russia-China bilateral relation leads to changing dynamic of geopolitical situation in the world which may influence and adversely affect the India’s position in global scenario.
- Therefore, India should further strengthen its relation with Russia and major nations of the world in order to counter the China’s influence.
- Eve , In its latest foreign policy strategy document, Russia has described China and India as its two allies. In the case of India, this may be more a case of wishful thinking