Political lobbying to force shelving of forest law

By P. Venugopal

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 16. Powerful political lobbying is going on in the Secretariat to force the Government to shelve the proposal to introduce an ordinance for taking over `ecologically sensitive lands' from private individuals.

The ordinance, which has gone through several drafts over the past few months, is meant as a weapon to fight further encroachments into the depleting forest land of the State. Tens of thousands of acres of forests, encroached or otherwise, are still remaining in the hands of private individuals. And, notwithstanding all the existing legal provisions, these forests are being razed to the ground by the timber mafia.

A sub-committee of the LDF discussed the provisions of the ordinance twice and, although it approved the proposal during the second sitting, the CPI, immediately afterwards, demanded that it should be placed before the full committee of the LDF. The Kerala Congress(J) is also understood to have certain reservations about the ordinance. The LDF full committee is expected to go into the matter later this month.

In the meantime, the CPI has formed a sub-committee of its own to go deeper into the proposed ordinance. The individuals who stand to lose by the takeover provisions are trying to project the ordinance as `anti- farmer' and, as a group, they wield considerable political and financial clout. They are also inducing the trade unions in the plantation sector to come out against the proposal by giving them the impression that the ordinance would result in the disappearance of some of the thriving plantations in the State.

The final draft of the `Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Sensitive Lands) Ordinance, 2000' is now ready and it has been cleared by the Law Department. Its preamble describes why it is imperative that the Western Ghats forests of the State, which had been declared a biodiversity hotspot by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Nature Resources, should be protected from further degradation by adopting a strategy of integrated management, based on sound scientific principles.

The essence of the ordinance is that these forests, which represent biological resources with tremendous ecological, genetic, economic, social, cultural, scientific, educational, recreational and aesthetic values, should be considered as global assets and a public trust to be preserved for future generations. They are too valuable to be left in the hands of private individuals whose concerns might not go beyond the timber value.

The provisions of the ordinance give sufficient protection to farmers who are having plantations in the Ghat areas of the State. As per the draft, the term `ecologically sensitive lands' means `any portion of forest land held by any person and lying contiguous to or encircled by a reserved forest or a vested forest or any other forest land owned by the Government, and predominantly supporting natural vegetation'. Clearly, no authorised plantation could be taken over by the Government on the basis of this definition.

There is also a specific provision to reiterate this aspect of the ordinance. This provision states that the takeover provision would not apply in respect of any land `cultivated with coffee or cardamom held by an owner under valid registration'. Tea and rubber plantations are not specifically mentioned since plantations growing these crops would not naturally come under the definition of `ecologically sensitive lands' mentioned above as they do not `predominantly support natural vegetation'.

Clearly, the people who drafted the ordinance have taken extra precaution to allay the fear that the provisions can become `anti-farmer' at the implementation stage.

As per the draft ordinance, the Government would also be given the power to declare any land as `ecologically sensitive' through a notification in the gazette on the basis of an advisory committee appointed for the purpose. This advisory committee will have the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests as its chairman.

Its members include the Commissioner for land Revenue, the Law Secretary, the Revenue Secretary, the Director of the Kerala Forest Research Institute, the Director of the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, the Director of the Centre for Earth Science Studies, the Director of the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management and two representatives of leading non-governmental organisations working in the field of forestry and conservation of nature.

The owner of the private forests vested with the Government as per the proposed ordinance will have the right to be heard. The draft ordinance has a provision for setting up tribunals for this purpose. Each tribunal shall consist of a judicial officer not below the rank of a District Judge as its Chairman. It will also have as its members an officer not below the rank of a Conservator of Forests and a scientist with not less than 20 years' service in the field of forestry or conservation of nature.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Regional
Previous : Jains told to adopt a village in each dt.
Next     : Retrenchment: M.P. Govt. defensive