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What is the Forest (Conservation) Act? click here to find out.

On 25th October 1980, the President of India promulgated a Forest (Conservation) Ordinance which aimed to provide for the conservation of forests in the country. The Forest (Conservation) Act, that consequently replaced the Ordinance, made the prior approval of the central government necessary for the de-reservation of reserved forests and for the diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes by state governments (or other authorities).
Until 1976, the subject of forests belonged in the State List of the Constitution and state governments regulated forests in accordance with the Indian Forest Act of 1927. The Forty-Second Amendment Act of 1976 transferred forests to the Concurrent List, thereby empowering the central government to play a more direct role in the management of forests and the regulation of activities in forest lands.
The Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 extends to the whole of India, except for the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The need to institute such a law was based on the Government’s acknowledgment of the high rate of deforestation and diversion of forest land for industrial and agricultural activities that was taking place throughout the country.
In 1986, the Act was amended to include provisions for the law to operate in plantations (by non-governmental organizations) and in forest land where trees were felled.

The Forest (Conservation) Rules of 2003 provide the procedure by which proposals for diversion of forest land must be made and the procedure by which these proposals are processed at the level of the state government, regional offices of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the central government.

 

 

 

 

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