Editorial: Green cover endangered

The annual study by the World Resources Institute, the Global Forest Review says that the planet has lost 10.2 million acres of primary rainforest in 2022, which is a 10 percent increase from the year before. The assessment marks a complete year since November 2021, when 145 countries came together at a global climate summit in Glasgow and pledged to halt forest loss before the end of this decade.

Brazil accounted for almost half of the tropical deforestation globally – with 43% share of the global tree cover loss. The destruction of vast tracts of the Amazon rainforest took place during the reign of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Large swathes of the forests were razed down to make way for mining, cattle ranches, soybean farming, and various agricultural activities. In 2022 alone, the nation lost as much as 5 mn hectares of forest land. The destruction wrought on the Amazon was made possible by the weakened regulation and enforcement around deforestation. This was aided by shrinking budgets for the agencies tasked with monitoring of environmental crimes, and the push for laws that allowed for mining over indigenous lands, while doing away with the forests.

Forests work as carbon sinks and they absorb twice as much carbon as they emit. The loss of forest cover had led to the release of about 2.7 gigatons of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere which is the equivalent of the annual fossil fuel emission of India. Speaking of which, India has also fared badly with regard to preserving its forest cover. In a study released in March this year, it was reported that the country had the second highest levels of deforestation globally – having lost 668,400 hectares of forestry over the period of 2015-2020. Compare this to the forest loss metrics from the period 1990-2000 when India lost 3,84,000 hectares of forest land. As per the Utility Bidder report, with a difference of 284,400 hectares in forestry loss between 1990 and 2020, India witnessed the biggest increase in deforestation.

To mitigate this, the government has taken several measures. Initiatives like the Joint Forest Management, involving the participation of local communities in replenishment of forests is one step in the right direction. The Green India Mission also aims to increase forest cover by 5 mn hectares. Policies have been introduced to regulate the timber industry and tackle illegal logging. The Wildlife Protection Act and the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (FCA) are also being employed as effective tools to combat deforestation.

However, a new Bill to amend the FCA that was moved in March this year, has left the space wide open with concessions that have riled up activists. It exempts certain categories of land from the purview of the FCA — namely forest alongside a rail line or public road maintained by the government to an extent of 0.10 hectares, forestland within 100 km alongside the LOC and LAC, and forestland of upto 10 hectares to be used for security-related infrastructure. The phrasing through which surveys for prospecting, exploration and seismic surveys (used for exploring petroleum reserves) have been grouped under ‘forest’ purposes has also come under fire from activists. A similar sidelining of gram sabhas whose consent is required to get forest clearance has been done away with in this new Bill, which is a contravention of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.