14-Aug-2018: Release of compensatory afforestation fund to states will help in meeting Nation’s INDCs
Underlining that the CAF Bill was earlier passed by Lok Sabha in the year 2008, but the same could not be passed in Rajya Sabha, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “Now, after coming to power in 2014, our Government again took up the initiative and introduced CAF Bill in 2015 and after a lot of debate in Parliament, the Bill was passed in 2016 and the CAF Act was published on August 3, 2016”. The Act could be implemented after framing of Rules after wider consultations with various stakeholders. The CAF Act will come into force from September 30, 2018.
The release of fund to States will boost the efforts of the Government towards restoration and enhancement of forest wealth, enhance bio-richness, water availability and secure ecological security of the country, adding that this effort will help in creating the additional carbon sink to meet the nation’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by the year 2030.
The Minister also pointed out that the CAF Rules were finally published on August 10, 2018, paving the way for smooth transfer of funds worth about Rs. 52, 000 crore to the States. He also said that the fund will be kept in the interest-bearing Public account of the Centre and States, will be safe and will be used only for compensatory afforestation, soil moisture conservation, wildlife management and catchment area treatment. The Minister also said that these activities will be managed by statutory body called National Authority and State Authority and has a strong monitoring mechanism.
The CAF Act has been enacted to manage the funds collected for compensatory afforestation and net present value of forest land diverted for non-forestry use under Forest Conservation Act 1980, which had till now been managed by ad-hoc Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA). The release of the fund was restricted to only 10% of principal amount from interest accrued over it. Now, the Fund will be managed as per the CAF Act and Rules, unlocking the use of funds collected for the purpose of forest ecosystem restoration and water security.
The Act provides that the Compensatory Afforestation will be compulsorily undertaken from the funds deposited for compensatory afforestation only on priority. The Minister said that this legislation will provide funds to the State Governments, which will get 90% of their share of funds – about Rs. 52, 000 crore to plan better and utilize the fund for compensatory afforestation, conservation of wild flora and fauna, wildlife habitat management and regeneration of degraded forest and restoration of ecosystem services.
It has been provided that the expenditure can be done as per Annual Plan of Operation (APO), prepared in consultation with Gram Sabha to ensure that the rights of tribal population are protected. With this objective in view, the afforestation of indigenous plant species has been proposed. The CAF Rules 2018 have been notified on August 10, 2018.
10-Aug-2018: “PARIVESH” – an environmental single window hub for Environment, Forest, Wildlife and CRZ clearances launched
The Prime Minister has launched PARIVESH (Pro-Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive, Virtuous and Environmental Single-window Hub) on the occasion of World Biofuel Day. PARIVESH is a Single-Window Integrated Environmental Management System, developed in pursuance of the spirit of ‘Digital India’ initiated by the Prime Minister and capturing the essence of Minimum Government and Maximum Governance.
PARIVESH automates the entire process of submitting the application and tracking the status of such proposals at each stage of processing. With the launch of PARIVESH, the vision of the Prime Minister for E-Governance and enhancing Ease of Doing Responsible Business is being translated into action by MoEF&CC. PARIVESH, MoEFCC has become more of a facilitator, than a regulator.
“PARIVESH” is a workflow based application, based on the concept of web architecture. It has been rolled out for online submission, monitoring and management of proposals submitted by Project Proponents to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), as well as to the State Level Environmental Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAA), to seek various types of clearances (e.g. Environment, Forest, Wildlife and Coastal Regulation Zone Clearances) from Central, State and district-level authorities. The system has been designed, developed and hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, with technical support from National Informatics Centre, (NIC), New Delhi.
The main highlights of PARIVESH include - single registration and single sign-in for all types of clearances (i.e. Environment, Forest, Wildlife and CRZ), unique-ID for all types of clearances required for a particular project and a single Window interface for the proponent to submit applications for getting all types of clearances (i.e. Environment, Forests, Wildlife and CRZ clearances). PARIVESH offers a framework to generate economic growth and strengthens Sustainable Development through EGovernance, he also stated that with automatic highlighting of non-compliance by the system, PARIVESH helps in improving the overall performance and efficiency of the whole appraisal process.
PARIVESH also helps the processing authorities, as it has a Single Window System for Central, State and District level clearances, auto-generation of agenda (based on first come, first served principle), minutes of the meetings and online generation of approval letters, resulting in ease and uniformity in processing of clearance applications, online submission and monitoring of compliance reports including geo-tagged images of the site by regulatory body / inspecting officers even through the Mobile App for enhanced compliance monitoring. He added that the facility of Geographic Information System (GIS) interface for the Appraisal Committee will help them in analyzing the proposal efficiently, automatic alerts (via SMS and emails) at important stages to the concerned officers, committee members and higher authorities to check the delays, if any. “PARIVESH enables project proponents, citizens to view, track and interact with scrutiny officers, generates online clearance letters, online mailers and alerts to state functionaries in case of delays beyond stipulated time for processing of applications”, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said.
18-Dec-2017: Parliament clears the bill to exclude bamboo from the definition of tree under the Indian Forest Act
The Parliament has cleared this bill to exclude bamboo from the definition of tree under the Indian Forest Act, stating it would improve earnings of tribes and dwellers living around forests.
A legislation to amend the Indian Forest Act to exempt felling and transportation of bamboo grown in non-forest areas from the state permit, was tabled in the Lok Sabha on 18 December, 2017. The Indian Forest (Amendment) Bill, 2017 would omit bamboos growing in non-forest areas from the definition of trees.
Last month, the government had come out with an ordinance to amend the Indian Forest Act, 1927 in this regard. This bill would replace this ordinance. Prior to issuance of the ordinance, the definition of tree in the Act included palm, bamboo, brushwood and cane.
23-Nov-2017: Centre Promulgates Indian Forest (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 to Encourage Bamboo Cultivation in Non-Forest Areas
Union Government has promulgated the Indian Forest (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 to exempt bamboo grown in non-forest areas from definition of tree, thereby dispensing with the requirement of felling/transit permit for its economic use.
Bamboo, though, taxonomically a grass, was legally defined as a tree under the Indian Forest Act, 1927. Before this amendment, the felling and transit of bamboo grown on forest as well non-forest land attracted the provisions of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (IFA, 1927). This was a major impediment for bamboo cultivation by farmers on non-forest land. Earlier, the Union Cabinet approved the promulgation of the Ordinance on amendment of Section 2 (7) of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 in this regard.
That a major objective of the amendment is to promote cultivation of bamboo in non-forest areas to achieve twin objectives of increasing the income of farmers and also increasing the green cover of the country. He also stated that bamboo grown in the forest areas shall continue to be governed by the provisions of Indian Forest Act, 1927.
The amendment and the resultant change in classification of bamboo grown in non-forest areas will usher in much needed and far-reaching reforms in the bamboo sector. While on the one hand, the legal and regulatory hardships being faced by farmers and private individuals will be removed and on the other hand, it will create a viable option for cultivation in 12.6 million hectares of cultivable waste land. The measure will go a long way in enhancing the agricultural income of farmers and tribes, especially in North-East and Central India. The amendment will encourage farmers and other individuals to take up plantation/ block plantation of suitable bamboo species on degraded land, in addition to plantation on agricultural land and other private lands under agroforestry mission. The move is in line with the objective of doubling the income of farmers, besides conservation and sustainable development.
Some of the other benefits of amendment include enhancing supply of raw material to the traditional craftsmen of rural India, bamboo based/ paper & pulp industries, cottage industries, furniture making units, fabric making units, incense stick making units. Besides promoting major bamboo applications such as wood substitutes and composites like panels, flooring, furniture and bamboo blind, it will also help industries such as those dealing with food products (bamboo shoots), constructions and housing, bamboo charcoal etc. The amendment will greatly aid the success of recently constituted National Bamboo Mission.
Bamboo grows abundantly in areas outside forests with an estimated growing stock of 10.20 million tonnes. About 20 million people are involved in bamboo related activities. One tonne of bamboo provides 350 man days of employment. An enabling environment for the cultivation of bamboo will help in creation of job opportunities in the country. The amendment will unleash the potential of bamboo in terms of rural and national economy apart from ecological benefits such as soil-moisture conservation, landslide prevention and rehabilitation, conserving wildlife habitat, enhancing source of bio-mass, besides serving as a substitute for timber.
The current demand of bamboo in India is estimated at 28 million tonnes. Though India has 19% share of world’s area under bamboo cultivation, its market share in the sector is only 6%. At present, India imports timber and allied products, such as pulp, paper, furniture etc. In 2015, India imported about 18.01 million cubic meters of timber and allied products worth Rs 43000 crores. The amendment will help in addressing some of these issues, besides meeting the demand from domestic production.
As per the assessment of United Nation’s Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the bamboo business in the North-East Region alone has a potential of about Rs. 5000 crores in the next ten years. The amendment will therefore, help in harnessing this great potential and enhance the scope to increase the present level of market share and improve the economy of the entire country, particularly the North Eastern region.