Change in norms for forest evicts demanded

BHUBANESWAR: A group of forest rights activists has demanded amendment of Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act to ensure compliance with the Forest Rights Act (FRA), restitution and compensation for those illegally evicted and relocated for CA plantations and immediate withdrawal of a guideline issued on November 8 for creation of land banks for plantations from revenue and common lands.

In a petition to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha), the activists have demanded to ensure all accumulated CA funds are democratically managed and administered by transferring to the Gram Sabhas, which are empowered to manage and conserve forests, and all spending must be done with the consent of Gram Sabhas.

Tushar Dash of Community Forest Rights - Learning and Advocacy (CFR-LA) said the CAF Act enacted by Parliament on July 26 last year gravely violates the constitutional and legal rights as well as livelihoods of crores of tribals and forest dwellers in the country.

“In its current form, the Act inventivises the forest bureaucracy to illegally and rampantly grant approvals for forest diversion besides violating the FRA or Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act. The CAF Act also encourages criminal atrocities against the forest communities by encouraging tree plantations and other activities on lands that already belong to them, and over which the Gram Sabha has the exclusive rights of management and conservation,” he pointed out.

While the goal of CAF is to compensate for forests diverted for development and infrastructure projects, Dash said, it creates a perverse incentive to accelerate deforestation as more than 1.5 million hectares of forest land have been diverted under the Forest Conservation Act between 1980-2016 despite the compensatory afforestation.

“The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has granted approval for diversion of 47,500 hectares of forests between June 2014 and April 2016, with mining accounting for the highest share of 29 per cent. The state of affairs indicates the ineffectiveness of CA as a mechanism to control the scale of deforestation,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, Odisha Jungle Manch, an alliance of community forestry led by its convenor Dasarathi Behera has submitted a memorandum to the Odisha Governor. He has suggested modification of the CAF Act to protect the interest of both forests and people dependent on forests.