India’s new forest policy draft draws criticism for emphasis on industrial timber

The Indian government has initiated the process of revamping its national forest policy, but the new draft has critics on edge. The current National Forest Policy 1988 (NFP-1988) was announced 30 years ago. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has now published the Draft National Forest Policy 2018 (DNFP-2018), open for public comments until April 14. The new draft policy’s overall goal is to “safeguard the ecological and livelihood security of people, of the present and future generations, based on sustainable management of the forests for the flow of ecosystem services.” The draft policy also aims to maintain at least one-third of India’s total land area under forest and tree cover. In the hills and mountainous regions, the policy’s goal is to maintain two-thirds of the area under forest and tree cover to both “prevent soil erosion and land degradation and also to ensure the stability of the fragile ecosystems.” The draft policy lists multiple other objectives, including the maintenance of environmental stability and conservation of biodiversity; reversal of the degradation of forests; improvement of the livelihoods of people through the sustainable use of ecosystem services; and meeting India’s greening goals under its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). Further, it talks about maintaining soil quality; safeguarding forestlands; managing protected areas and other wildlife-rich areas; protecting watersheds; and increasing tree cover outside forests. Forests in the mountains provide ecosystem services and climate resilience to those living in the plains. Photo by S. Gopikrishna Warrier / Mongabay. The draft also…

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