The intention of the government does not seem to protect its green region, its focus is more visible on commercial exploitation, so the wrath of nature is increasing.
About 15 percent of the country of its total prevention of the forest area has been lost in the last two decades. According to the online surveillance institution Global Forest Watch, more than 3,48,000 hectares of rain has been over since 2002. Among them, 18,000 disappeared in 2024. These are not just forests, but dense, centuries -old environmental systems, which storing carbon, controlling rainfall and taking responsibility for the release of thousands of species. Since 2001, an average of 8.03 million tonnes of carbon dioxide has been absorbed every year in the forest country. The decline in the forest sector weakens the resolve to reduce 2.5-3 billion tonnes of carbon excretion by 2030 under the national level contribution at the national level. If the current trend of deforestation continues, experts warned that this promise will not be fulfilled. It is estimated that India’s total carbon reserves are 6.13 gigatons, most of which are in geology in the form of biofuels. When forests are eliminated, this carbon goes back to the atmosphere.
However, there is a long list of laws and programs made to protect forests in the country. For example, the Forest Protection Act, Joint Forest Management, Forest Rights Act, Green Bharat Mission and Appeal Forest Planning Fund Management and Planning Authority, etc. This law and order seems to be strict on paper, but the situation on the ground tells a different story.
The Forest Rights Act aims to restore the rights of the forest dwellers and their release, as their rights were cut under the earlier laws. But struggle continues in different areas regarding forest rights. In many cases, tribal communities living in the forest have still neither received a complete lease, nor are they asked on the decisions related to the use and conservation of forest land. Therefore, along with the shrinkage of tribals, forests are also being harvested on a large scale.
“Post-Doctor Research Associate Anuja Anil Date is constantly shrinking due to the misuse of the Forest Protection Act and gradually weakening the Forest Protection Act since the 1990s and gradually weakening the Post-Doctor Research Associate at Ecology and the Environment. Used to need. According to environmentalists, this has opened the highway of uncontrolled and untreated development. The law now allows inferiorized forests, classified forests and private land to work unworthy for infrastructure and excavation projects and surveys like mining, road, railways.
Forest cheating
According to the 2021 forest status report, medium dense forests have decreased by 1,582 sq km, while open forests have increased by 2,621 sq km. This change seems positive on paper, but hides changes in barren or arable land from a rich ecosystem.
A non-profit organization, Executive Director of Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Ramanjaneyulu GV. It is said, “This is a very short -sighted understanding of forests. Forests are not just trees, they are the entire ecosystem of soil, insects, micro -organisms, grasses and local species that have been developing for centuries. ”
The government talks about running afforestation programs to make up for deforestation. But many questions are arising on its impact. This plan is based on this perspective that due to development, it can be compensated by planting new trees elsewhere. But in practice, these measures for business activities are planted trees and plants and are often planted on inappropriate lands.
The raised amount in the form of compensation for the environment is allocated to the states for afforestation on the non-forest land identified. The 2020 audit of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has shown that the sustainable rate of government plantation in Odisha was only 7.5 percent. The program was wasted due to poor maintenance, misuse of money and emphasis on quantity rather than quality. In Uttarakhand, the fixed amount for afforestation was spent on mobile phones, office renewal and legal fees. Overall, the program has failed to make a meaningful compensation. Many CAG reports express the non-taqau rate of plantation and misuse of money. “The idea of compensation in it is very absurd,” says Date, she further says that the Center in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra has approved the change of 937 hectares of forest land for the iron ore beneficial plant of the mining company Loids Metals and Energy and the cutting of 1.23 lakh trees.
Tribal communities have been the most effective patron of forest land for centuries. Proof also confirm this. In Maharashtra, villages like Meadha, Pachgaon and Payavihira have restored biodiversity and improved soil fertility after obtaining Community Forest Rights (CFR). Since 2012, Pachgaon has set a local standard in sustainable forest management. The barren land in Payavihira has been converted into fertile fields and forests, leading to increased soil fertility due to the abundance of carbon, nutrients and organic matter.
In Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, CFR has helped to connect traditional knowledge with conservation goals. But many gram sabhas still do not get financial assistance. Date says, “The role of these communities does not get a formal recognition. Forests Fund never reach them. ”
International models show what is possible. In Nepal and Mexico, governments have enabled forest communities to run a permanent forest venture by providing training and equipment. In Oxaco, Mexico, one such model in Sierra Norte has produced 3 million metric tons of wood and carbon in two decades, and all this happened from the forests that are constantly flourishing. Date says, “It is absolutely possible if communities are empowered and given them a place to negotiate on their own terms and the signed contract is public-based and community-detailed.”
Policy change is necessary
“The system will have to change the system,” says Debitya Sinha, senior residents of the climate and ecosystem team in a think tank called the Law Center for Legal Policy. “The system will have to be changed.” The target-oriented forest plantation policy will have to focus on the Forest Rights Act. Forestation projects should be implemented keeping in mind the ecological history and there should be arrangements that decide that money is used for forest restoration.
Sinha explains that bulldozers and even explosives are used to clean the rocky land for plantation in many forest plantation projects. He says, “You cannot restore forests by destroying the ecosystem.” They further say that forest plantation plans should be done in consultation with scientists, ecological and social experts and tree species should be selected according to the needs of the local community. The correct scale of success should be the benefit of pure biodiversity.
Above all, environmental clearances should be strictly monitored for development in sensitive areas towards the environment. He warns, “If the Great Nicobar forest disappears, no compensation will be able to bring them back.”
The country has placed a big bet on forests as a solution to climate change. But until the definition, management and pricing of forests are reconsidered, he is at risk of losing much more than carbon sinks. There is a danger of losing forests themselves.
