Ecology conservation: Much needs to be done at policy level

Live Mint , Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Correspondent : Mayank Aggarwal
New Delhi: When it comes to the conservation of ecology in India, much needs to be done at the policy level—starting from defining “forest”.

The government wants to bring 33% of the country under the green cover, but outdated policies are the first stumbling block. And that’s one big reason environmentalists are skeptical about government’s intent.

The last time a forest policy was formulated was in 1988 and since then, successive governments have failed to update it.

More importantly, a policy to declare biodiversity-rich areas out of bounds for ecology-damaging activities such as mining is yet to see the light of the day despite repeated promises by Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar.

The country is yet to define “forest” and there is an ongoing case in country’s top court on this matter.

“If your intent is to have a policy which is not backed with intent, then it is of a classic case of doublespeak, which is happening right now. The government’s intentions are clear that it is ready for trading off environment for growth. So, we might celebrate international day of forests but if bare minimum rules are not being followed, then there is no use of it. Even implementing and following of rules to the least possible level can save India’s forests,” said KanchiKohli, legal research director at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR)-Namati Environmental Justice Programme.

CPR is a Delhi-based non-governmental organization working on a range of policies, including environmental issues.

But the environment ministry is no hurry to come out with the inviolate forest policy, said an official at the ministry on condition of anonymity.

“There are huge mineral resources in our forest areas and there is huge pressure of development. Thus, instead of declaring some forest blocks as out of bounds in one go, ministry is going slow and treating requests for diversion of forest areas for mining and allied activities on case-to-case basis. This is in line with the present government’s focus on achieving rapid development,” said the official.

The inviolate forest policy will declare certain dense forest areas as out of bounds for activities like mining. The policy was first mooted during former environment minister Jairam Ramesh’s tenure as “go”-“no go” but was later dropped. However, a high-level committee formed by environment ministry in its report in 2014 called for keeping certain biodiversity-rich dense forest out of bounds for any activity like mining or building dams.

Environment minister Prakash Javadekar said consultations to give the policy a proper shape is on.

The national forest policy is also being prepared in the last one year.

Though there is no clear policy in place yet, the government has defended its track record. The environment ministry claims that unlike many countries in Asia and elsewhere, India’s forest cover is steadily increasing over past few years.

As per the latest assessment released in December 2015, India’s total forest and tree cover is about 24.16% of the country’s total geographical area. It increased by 5081 sq km compared to 2013.

The ministry official quoted above also drew attention to promises made by India in the run-up to the Paris climate change summit in December 2015.

India had reiterated its long-term goal of bringing 33% of its geographical area under forest cover and creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

Forest cover can be described as all land which is more than 1 hectare in area and have tree density of 10% and more.

As per the latest assessment released in December 2015, India’s total forest and tree cover is about 24.16% of the country’s total geographical area.

But protecting forests and increasing forest cover alone is not enough. Those who fight for forests need to be protected as well. According to a report published inThe Guardian last week, United Nation’s special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz urged governments to give protection to forest defenders.

She even pointed to a pattern of killings of activists defending forests as a growing “epidemic” around the world.

The report of a UK-based NGO, Global Witness, which highlights that at least 116 environmental defenders were killed in 2014, emphasizes the seriousness of the issue. The report said that South Asia is the second most deadliest region after Latin America for those trying to protect ecology.

 
SOURCE : http://www.livemint.com/Politics/D9sektNCOlqxnOk1YuiYdM/Ecology-conservation-Much-needs-to-be-done-at-policy-level.html
 


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