The central government has powers under Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, and amended existing 2023 rules.
Key Highlights
- Streamlined Approval Process: Extended in-principle approval validity from 2 to 5 years with provisions for offline applications in defense, national importance, and emergency projects.
- Clear definitions for Stage-I (in-principle) and Stage-II (final) approvals.
- Enhanced Compensatory Afforestation: Introduced land banking systems and allowed existing central scheme afforestation to meet compensatory requirements.
- States can transfer forest land to Forest Departments after Stage-I approval.
- Strategic Resource Management: Added special provisions for critical mineral mining with reduced minimum land use duration from 20 to 10 years.
- Strengthened Enforcement: Expanded forest officers' authority to initiate legal proceedings with enhanced monitoring and reporting requirements.
Evolution of the Forest (Conservation) Act
- Pre-1980: Forests were a State subject, thus large-scale diversion of forest land for agriculture, industry, mining, etc.
- 42nd Constitutional Amendment (1976) shifted forests from the State List to Concurrent List,
- Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980: Check deforestation by centralising the process of forest land diversion.
- 1988 Amendment: Regulated leasing of forest land to private entities.
- Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023: Aimed at balancing development,ecological protection and aligns with climate goals.
