22nd March, 2018

The Union government has drafted a new National Forest Policy. If approved, the policy will allow the corporate sector to grow, harvest and sell trees on government-owned forest lands. So far, this is explicitly banned under the existing National Forest Policy, which was laid down in 1988.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre has been wanting to open forest lands to industry since 2015, when it passed guidelines to that effect and asked states to take the initiative. But the 1988 policy did not allow that plan to proceed. Government guidelines need to adhere to the nation’s laws and policies, and the 2015 guidelines were in contravention of the 1988 forest policy and did not have an explicit legal basis either. If the new draft National Forest Policy is approved, however, it will permit the government to amend environment laws and allow industry to take over patches of forest lands.

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