Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022

Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 2: Governance, Administration and Challenges- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Minister of State for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply in Rajya Sabha informed about various features of the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022.
He also provided clarifications regarding various features of the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022.

About: It is conferred by Section 4 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and in supersession of the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2003.
Key Provisions: Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022 provides for setting up of following-
- Advisory Committee
- Project Screening Committee
- Regional Empowered Committees

Advisory Committee: It defines the role of the Advisory Committee which consists of 6 members including a chairman. It is restricted to advise or recommend with regards to-
- Grant of approval under relevant sections in respect of proposals referred to it and
- Any matter connected with the conservation of forests referred to it by the Central government.
Project Screening Committee: It is a five member body that is to be constituted in each state/UT for an initial review of proposals involving diversion of forest land. It will meet twice a month and advise state on following-
- All non-mining projects between 5-40 hectares must be reviewed within a period of 60 days and all such mining projects must be reviewed within 75 days.
- For larger projects, committee gets 120 days for non-mining projects involving more than 100 hectares and 150 days for mining projects.
Regional Empowered Committees: It will examine all the linear projects (e.g. roads, highways, etc) involving land up to 40 hectares and the use of forest land up to 0.7 canopy density.
Compensatory Afforestation: the applicants will be able to take up compensatory afforestation in other states/UTs where the cover is less than 20%.in following cases-
- Diversion of forest land in a hilly or mountainous state with green cover covering more than two-thirds of its geographical area, or
- Diversion of forest land in a state/UT with forest cover covering more than one-third of its geographical area.

About: Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980 was enacted by the parliament to control the ongoing deforestation of the forests of India.
- Forest Conservation Act is the principal legislation that regulates deforestation in India.
Key Objectives: Forest Conservation Act, 1980 aims-
- To protect the forest including its flora, fauna and other diverse ecological components while preserving the integrity and territory of the forests.
- Facilitate the growth of forest biodiversity
- Prevent conversion of forest land into non-forested activities like agricultural, grazing or for any other commercial purposes and intentions.
Key Features: key features of the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980 are as follows-
- Forest Conservation Act (FCA) makes the central government the main authority to achieve the objectives of the Act.
- Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980 makes provisions for punishment for violation of the Act.
- Establishes an advisory committee to help the central government with regard to forest conservation.
- Under the provisions of this Act, prior approval of the Central Government is required for the diversion of forestlands for non-forest purposes.
- Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980 deals with four categories of forests- reserved forests, village forests, protected forests and private forests.