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English · हिन्दी · తెలుగు · தமிழ் · മലയാളം · मराठी · ಕನ್ನಡ

Forest laws and the rights of forest dwellers

मराठीत स्पष्टीकरण

Environmental laws and bodies · Part 2 / 3 · Fact-checked on · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

The Indian Forest Act, 1927 and its categories of forest; the National Forest Policy, 1988, Joint Forest Management and forest cover; the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, the Godavarman case and the 2023 amendment; compensatory afforestation and the CAF Act, 2016; the Forest Rights Act, 2006, its rights, the Gram Sabha and the Niyamgiri case.

Each idea is explained first in Marathi (मराठी), ending with the English and Hindi exam terms, followed by the same point in exam English. UPSC Prelims is in English or Hindi, so understand it in Marathi and revise it in English.

प्रदूषण हा हवा-पाण्याचा प्रश्न असेल, तर जंगलाचा प्रश्न जमिनीचा आहे: जंगल कोण, कशासाठी वापरू शकतो आणि कोण ठरवतो. तीन कायदे तीन दिशांना ओढतात: 1927 चा कायदा सरकारला पकड देतो, 1980 चा कायदा जंगल इतर कामांसाठी देण्याला ब्रेक लावतो, 2006 चा कायदा पिढ्यानपिढ्या तिथे राहिलेल्यांचा हक्क मान्य करतो. जंगल समवर्ती सूची त आहे, म्हणून केंद्र आणि राज्य दोघांची जबाबदारी. (→ English: Concurrent List; Indian Forest Act; Forest (Conservation) Act; Forest Rights Act · हिन्दी: समवर्ती सूची; भारतीय वन अधिनियम; वन (संरक्षण) अधिनियम; वन अधिकार अधिनियम)

In exam EnglishPart 1 dealt with pollution. Forests raise a different conflict, one about land: who may use a forest, for what, and who decides. Three laws answer that question, and they pull in different directions. The Indian Forest Act, 1927, a colonial law, gives the state control over forests and their produce. The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 puts a brake on states handing forest land over to other uses. The Forest Rights Act, 2006 recognises the claims of the people who have lived in and depended on forests for generations. Since 1976, forests have been on the Concurrent List, so the Centre and the states share the field. The key skill for Prelims is to know which law does what, and which authority each one empowers.

1927 चा कायदा महसूल आणि नियंत्रणासाठी आला. दोन प्रकारच्या जंगलांतला फरक असा समजा: राखीव वन म्हणजे कुलूप लावलेली खोली, परवानगी असेल तरच आत; आधीच तडजोड अधिकारी कोणाचे काय हक्क ते ठरवतो. संरक्षित वन म्हणजे उघडी खोली, फक्त "हे करू नये" असा फलक. ग्रामवन गावालाच सोपवतात. 2017 पासून शेतात वाढवलेला बांबू झाड नाही, परवान्याशिवाय तोडून विकता येतो. (→ English: reserved forest; protected forest; village forest · हिन्दी: आरक्षित वन; संरक्षित वन; ग्राम वन)

In exam EnglishThe Indian Forest Act, 1927 consolidated colonial forest law. Its concern was revenue and control: it regulates the felling and movement of timber and other forest produce and lets the government levy duty on it. The Act creates three classes of forest. In a reserved forest, the strictest class, the default is prohibition: activities such as clearing, grazing or cutting are offences unless the rules allow them, and before notification a forest settlement officer inquires into the rights people claim and either admits, commutes or extinguishes them. In a protected forest the default runs the other way: people's rights are recorded rather than settled, and only the acts the government specifically bans are forbidden. Village forests are reserved forest that the state assigns to a village community to manage. An amendment of 2017 removed bamboo grown outside forest areas from the Act's definition of a tree, so a farmer who grows bamboo on private land may cut and sell it without a transit permit.

1988 च्या वन धोरणाने दृष्टी बदलली: आधी पर्यावरणीय समतोल आणि गावकऱ्यांच्या गरजा; लाकडाचा महसूल नंतर. देशाचा एक तृतीयांश आणि डोंगराळ भागाचा दोन तृतीयांश भाग जंगल किंवा झाडांखाली असावा, हे उद्दिष्ट. संयुक्त वन व्यवस्थापन म्हणजे वन विभाग आणि गाव समितीने मिळून खराब झालेले जंगल राखणे आणि उत्पन्न वाटून घेणे. दोन हिशोब वेगळे: वनाच्छादन म्हणजे खरोखर झाडे असलेली जमीन, नोंदणीकृत वनक्षेत्र म्हणजे कागदावर जंगल म्हणून नोंदलेली जमीन. (→ English: National Forest Policy, 1988; Joint Forest Management; forest cover; recorded forest area · हिन्दी: राष्ट्रीय वन नीति, 1988; संयुक्त वन प्रबंधन; वन आवरण; अभिलिखित वन क्षेत्र)

In exam EnglishThe National Forest Policy, 1988 replaced the policy of 1952 and changed the purpose of forests: ecological balance and the needs of local people come first, and revenue from timber comes after. It set the goal of having one-third of the country's area under forest or tree cover, and two-thirds in the hills. In 1990 a government circular launched Joint Forest Management, under which the forest department and village committees protect degraded forest together and share its produce. To track progress, the Forest Survey of India publishes the India State of Forest Report every two years from satellite data. It distinguishes forest cover, meaning land with tree canopy above a set density whatever its legal status, from recorded forest area, meaning land recorded as forest in government records whether or not trees stand on it. According to the India State of Forest Report 2023, released in December 2024, forest cover was 21.76 per cent of the country's geographical area, and forest and tree cover together 25.17 per cent, still short of the one-third goal.

1980 चा कायदा एकच सांगतो: राज्य स्वतःहून जंगलाला जंगल नसलेले करू शकत नाही. घरातल्या ज्येष्ठांच्या परवानगीशिवाय वडिलोपार्जित शेत विकता येत नाही तसे, राखीव दर्जा काढणे, वनजमीन दुसऱ्या कामाला वापरणे, खासगी व्यक्तीला भाड्याने देणे, नैसर्गिक झाडे तोडणे, सगळे केंद्राच्या पूर्वमंजुरीनेच. कायदा पूर्ण बंदी घालत नाही; अटींसह निर्णय केंद्राने घ्यावा असे करतो. (→ English: Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; prior approval of the Central Government; non-forest purpose · हिन्दी: वन (संरक्षण) अधिनियम, 1980; केंद्र सरकार का पूर्व अनुमोदन; गैर-वन प्रयोजन)

In exam EnglishThe Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 is a short law with one big idea: a state government may not, on its own, take land out of the forest. Under Section 2, no state government or other authority may, without the prior approval of the central government, order that a reserved forest cease to be reserved, allow forest land to be used for any non-forest purpose, lease forest land to a private person or body, or clear naturally grown trees in order to plant others. A Forest Advisory Committee advises the Centre on such proposals. The Act does not ban diversion; it makes diversion a central decision, taken after scrutiny and with conditions. Suppose a state wants to give 200 hectares of forest to a mining company. Since 1980 the proposal must go to New Delhi, which may approve it subject to compensatory planting and other conditions, or refuse.

"जंगल म्हणजे काय?" या प्रश्नाला 1996 मध्ये सर्वोच्च न्यायालयाने गोदावर्मन प्रकरणात उत्तर दिले: शब्दकोशातील अर्थच. म्हणजे सरकारने अधिसूचित केले की नाही, मालकी कोणाची, हे महत्त्वाचे नाही; दाट झाडांची खासगी बाग असो की महसूल कागदांत जंगल म्हणून नोंदलेली जमीन, केंद्राच्या परवानगीशिवाय तोडता येत नाही. ते प्रकरण दशकानुदशके उघडे ठेवून न्यायालय आदेश देत राहिले. (→ English: T. N. Godavarman Thirumulpad case (1996); dictionary meaning of forest; continuing mandamus · हिन्दी: टी. एन. गोदावर्मन थिरुमुलपाद मामला (1996); वन का शब्दकोशीय अर्थ; निरंतर परमादेश)

In exam EnglishWhat counts as forest was settled by the Supreme Court. In T. N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India, by an order of 12 December 1996, the Court held that the word forest in the 1980 Act must be understood in its dictionary sense. The Act therefore covers every statutorily recognised forest, reserved, protected or otherwise, and any area recorded as forest in government records, whoever owns it. A private plantation thick with trees, or village land shown as forest in revenue papers, could no longer be cleared without central approval just because it had never been notified under the 1927 Act. The case stayed open for decades as a continuing mandamus, with the Court issuing orders on felling, saw mills, compensatory afforestation and forest funds.

2023 च्या दुरुस्तीने कायद्याला नवे नाव दिले: वन (संरक्षण एवं संवर्धन) अधिनियम. आता अधिसूचित जंगल आणि 25 ऑक्टोबर 1980 पासून सरकारी नोंदींत जंगल म्हणून असलेली जमीनच याखाली येते. सीमेपासून 100 किमीच्या आत देशासाठी महत्त्वाचे रस्त्यांसारखे प्रकल्प, सुरक्षेसाठी 10 हेक्टर, नक्षलग्रस्त भागात 5 हेक्टर, रस्त्याकडेला 0.10 हेक्टर यांना सूट. यामुळे गोदावर्मन अर्थ संकुचित झाला अशी टीका; 2024 मध्ये सर्वोच्च न्यायालयाने जुना व्यापक अर्थच पाळायला सांगितले. (→ English: Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023; Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam; strategic linear projects · हिन्दी: वन (संरक्षण) संशोधन अधिनियम, 2023; वन (संरक्षण एवं संवर्धन) अधिनियम; सामरिक रैखिक परियोजनाएँ)

In exam EnglishParliament rewrote parts of the 1980 Act in 2023. The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023 renamed it the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980. It now applies to land notified as forest under the 1927 Act or any other law, and to land not so notified but recorded as forest in government records on or after 25 October 1980. Some land is taken outside the Act: strips of up to 0.10 hectare beside a railway line or public road that give access to a habitation or roadside amenities; strategic linear projects of national importance within 100 km of the international border, the Line of Control or the Line of Actual Control; up to 10 hectares for security infrastructure; and up to 5 hectares for defence, paramilitary or public utility works in areas affected by left-wing extremism. Zoos, safaris and eco-tourism were added to the list of forestry activities. Critics argued that the recorded-land test narrowed Godavarman, and in February 2024 the Supreme Court, hearing challenges, directed by an interim order that the broad dictionary meaning continue to be followed.

कोणी जंगल घेतले तर भरपाई द्यावी लागते, शेजाऱ्याचे झाड तोडले तर नवे लावून द्यावे तसे. भरपाई वनीकरण तेवढ्याच बिगरवन जमिनीवर, नाहीतर दुप्पट खराब जंगलावर. शिवाय जंगल देत असलेल्या पाणी, माती सेवांचे मूल्यही भरावे लागते. ते पैसे वर्षानुवर्षे खर्च न होता पडून होते; 2016 च्या कायद्याने ते भारताचा लोकलेखा मधील राष्ट्रीय निधीत आणि राज्यांच्या निधींत आणले: 90 टक्के राज्यांना, 10 टक्के राष्ट्रीय निधीला. (→ English: compensatory afforestation; net present value; Public Account of India · हिन्दी: प्रतिकरात्मक वनरोपण; शुद्ध वर्तमान मूल्य; भारत का लोक लेखा)

In exam EnglishWhen forest land is diverted, the user must pay for what is lost. Two charges are usual. The first funds compensatory afforestation, normally on an equal area of non-forest land, or on twice the area of degraded forest where non-forest land is not available. The second is the net present value, a payment for the services the felled forest would have provided, such as water, soil and carbon. For years these payments piled up unspent in an ad hoc fund kept under the Supreme Court's supervision. The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016 gave them a legal home: a National Compensatory Afforestation Fund in the Public Account of India and a State fund in the public account of each state, both non-lapsable. Ninety per cent of the money collected goes to the state funds and ten per cent to the national fund, and authorities at both levels manage how it is spent.

जंगल राखीव केले तेव्हा तिथे राहणाऱ्यांचे हक्क नोंदवले नाहीत; आजोबांच्या काळापासून कसलेल्या जमिनीवरच ते "अतिक्रमण करणारे" ठरले. वन हक्क कायदा याला ऐतिहासिक अन्याय म्हणून मान्य करतो. जंगलात राहणाऱ्या अनुसूचित जमाती हा एक गट; इतर पारंपरिक वननिवासींनी तीन पिढ्या (75 वर्षे) तिथेच राहिल्याचे दाखवायचे. अंतिम तारीख 13 डिसेंबर 2005. नोडल मंत्रालय आदिवासी कार्य मंत्रालय. (→ English: Forest Rights Act; historical injustice; other traditional forest dwellers; 13 December 2005 · हिन्दी: वन अधिकार अधिनियम; ऐतिहासिक अन्याय; अन्य परंपरागत वन निवासी; 13 दिसंबर 2005)

In exam EnglishThe third law faces the people inside the forest. When forests were reserved under colonial and later laws, the settlement process often failed to record the rights of those already living there, so whole communities became encroachers on land they had used for generations. The preamble of the Forest Rights Act, formally the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, calls this a historical injustice. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal ministry. Two groups may claim. Forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribe communities qualify if they primarily reside in and depend on forest land in the areas where they are scheduled. Other traditional forest dwellers must show that they have lived in and depended on the forest for at least three generations, defined as 75 years, before 13 December 2005. For both groups, the land claimed must have been occupied before that cut-off date.

हक्क तीन प्रकारचे समजा. वैयक्तिक: राहती, कसलेली जमीन, जास्तीत जास्त 4 हेक्टर; वारसांना जाते, पण विकता येत नाही. सामूहिक: चराई, मासेमारी, गौण वनोपज म्हणजे बांबू, तेंदूपत्ता, मध गोळा करून विकणे. सर्वात मजबूत हक्क सामूहिक वन संसाधन यावर: गाव आपले जंगल स्वतः राखून व्यवस्थापित करते. शाळा, दवाखाना यांसाठी एक हेक्टरपेक्षा कमी, ग्रामसभेच्या शिफारशीने वनजमीन देता येते. (→ English: individual forest rights; minor forest produce; community forest resource; Section 3(2) · हिन्दी: व्यक्तिगत वन अधिकार; लघु वनोपज; सामुदायिक वन संसाधन; धारा 3(2))

In exam EnglishThe Act recognises several kinds of right. The individual right is to hold and live on forest land under occupation for habitation or self-cultivation, up to a ceiling of 4 hectares; the right is heritable but cannot be sold or transferred. Community rights include grazing, fishing, customary uses known as nistar, and ownership of, access to and the right to collect, use and sell minor forest produce, which the Act defines to cover non-timber produce of plant origin such as bamboo, tendu leaves, honey, lac and medicinal plants. The strongest is the right over a community forest resource: a village may protect, regenerate, conserve and manage the customary common forest it has traditionally guarded. Separately, Section 3(2) lets the government divert forest land for basic facilities such as schools, dispensaries, anganwadis, drinking water and village roads, provided each project uses less than one hectare, fells no more than 75 trees per hectare and is recommended by the Gram Sabha.

या कायद्यात पहिले पाऊल गावाचे: ग्रामसभा दावे घेते, आपल्या समितीकडून पडताळणी करून ठराव करते. मग उपविभागीय समिती तपासते, जिल्हा समिती अंतिम निर्णय घेते, राज्य समिती देखरेख करते. नियमगिरी प्रकरणात (2013) सर्वोच्च न्यायालयाने "बॉक्साइट खाणकामाने तुमच्या देवाच्या डोंगराला धक्का लागेल का, ते तुम्हीच सांगा" असे ग्रामसभांवरच सोपवले; बाराही सभांनी नकार दिला. पाचवी अनुसूची भागांत PESA सुद्धा ग्रामसभेला गौण वनोपजाची मालकी देतो. (→ English: Gram Sabha; District Level Committee; Niyamgiri case (2013); Fifth Schedule; PESA · हिन्दी: ग्राम सभा; ज़िला स्तरीय समिति; नियमगिरि मामला (2013); पाँचवीं अनुसूची; पेसा)

In exam EnglishThe process starts in the village. The Gram Sabha receives claims, has them verified through a Forest Rights Committee it elects, and passes a resolution. A Sub-Divisional Level Committee examines the resolution, a District Level Committee takes the final decision on the record of rights, and a State Level Monitoring Committee oversees the whole process. Even in national parks and sanctuaries, areas may be declared critical wildlife habitats and kept free of human use only after rights are recognised, on scientific grounds, and with any resettlement carried out with the free informed consent of the Gram Sabha. The Supreme Court gave the Gram Sabha real weight in Orissa Mining Corporation v. Ministry of Environment and Forest (2013), the Niyamgiri case: it held that the gram sabhas must decide whether bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills would affect the religious and cultural rights of the Dongria Kondh and other forest dwellers, and all twelve gram sabhas consulted rejected the project. The Act works alongside PESA, 1996, which gives gram sabhas in Fifth Schedule areas ownership of minor forest produce.

तिन्ही कायदे एकत्र पाहिले तर जंगलाची चावी हात बदलत गेल्याची कथा: 1927 मध्ये वन विभागाच्या हाती, 1980 मध्ये राज्याकडून केंद्राकडे, प्रत्येक वळवणीला भरपाईची किंमत; 2006 मध्ये पुन्हा गावच्या ग्रामसभेच्या हाती काही. गोदावर्मनने जंगलाची व्याप्ती वाढवली, 2023 च्या दुरुस्तीने पुन्हा रेषा ओढली, अंतिम शब्द अजून न्यायालयासमोर आहे. (→ English: forest governance; Gram Sabha; compensatory afforestation · हिन्दी: वन शासन; ग्राम सभा; प्रतिकरात्मक वनरोपण)

In exam EnglishPut side by side, the three laws describe a slow shift in who controls the forest. The 1927 Act made the forest department the master of the forest and its produce. The 1980 Act moved the power to give forest land away from the states to the Centre and, with compensatory afforestation, attached a price to every diversion. Godavarman widened the net to every area that is forest in fact or in the records, and the 2023 amendment redrew it, with the final word still before the Supreme Court. The 2006 Act then handed real authority back to the people on the ground, making the Gram Sabha both the starting point for recognising rights and a check on projects. The table below summarises the three.
The three forest laws compared
LawMain purposeKey authorityPoint most asked
Indian Forest Act, 1927State control of forests, timber and produceState forest department; forest settlement officerReserved, protected and village forests; bamboo outside forests freed (2017)
Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (renamed 2023)Brake on diverting forest landCentral government on the advice of the Forest Advisory CommitteePrior central approval; Godavarman (1996); 2023 exemptions
Forest Rights Act, 2006Recognising rights of forest dwellersGram Sabha; District Level Committee decides; Ministry of Tribal Affairs13 December 2005 cut-off; 75 years; 4 hectares; community forest resource; Niyamgiri (2013)

Exam traps

Recap

Practice questions

Q1. Consider the following statements about the Indian Forest Act, 1927:
1. In a reserved forest, the rights of people are settled before the forest is notified.
2. In a protected forest, all activities are prohibited unless specifically permitted.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Statement 1 is correct, so option 4 fails. Statement 2 describes a reserved forest, not a protected forest, where acts are allowed unless specifically barred; so options 2 and 3 fail.

Q2. The goal of bringing one-third of India's geographical area under forest or tree cover was set by:

  1. The Indian Forest Act, 1927
  2. The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
  3. The National Forest Policy, 1988
  4. The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016
Show answer

Answer: C. The National Forest Policy, 1988

The target is in the National Forest Policy, 1988. The 1927 Act deals with categories of forest and produce, the 1980 Act with prior approval for diversion, and the 2016 Act with funds for compensatory afforestation; none sets the one-third goal.

Q3. In T. N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India (1996), the Supreme Court held that the word 'forest' in the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980:

  1. covers only forests notified as reserved under the Indian Forest Act, 1927
  2. covers only government-owned land with tree cover
  3. must be understood in its dictionary meaning, irrespective of ownership
  4. is to be defined by each state government
Show answer

Answer: C. must be understood in its dictionary meaning, irrespective of ownership

The Court gave forest its dictionary meaning, covering all statutorily recognised forests and land recorded as forest, whoever owns it. Option 1 is too narrow because protected and recorded forests are also covered; option 2 is wrong because ownership does not matter; option 4 is wrong because the Court did not leave the meaning to the states.

Q4. With reference to the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023, consider the following statements:
1. It renamed the principal Act as the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980.
2. It exempts strategic linear projects of national importance within 100 km of the international border, the Line of Control or the Line of Actual Control.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: C. Both 1 and 2

Both statements are correct. Options 1 and 2 each leave out one correct statement, and option 4 rejects both.

Q5. Consider the following statements about the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016:
1. The National Compensatory Afforestation Fund is kept in the Consolidated Fund of India.
2. Ninety per cent of the money collected is credited to the State funds.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: B. 2 only

Statement 1 is wrong: the national fund is in the Public Account of India, not the Consolidated Fund, so options 1 and 3 fail. Statement 2 is correct, so option 4 fails.

Q6. Under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, an 'other traditional forest dweller' must have primarily resided in and depended on forest land, before 13 December 2005, for at least:

  1. 25 years
  2. 50 years
  3. 75 years
  4. 100 years
Show answer

Answer: C. 75 years

The Act requires at least three generations, defined as 75 years. The periods of 25, 50 and 100 years do not appear in the definition, so options 1, 2 and 4 are wrong.

Q7. Under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which body takes the final decision on the record of forest rights?

  1. The Gram Sabha
  2. The Sub-Divisional Level Committee
  3. The District Level Committee
  4. The State Level Monitoring Committee
Show answer

Answer: C. The District Level Committee

The District Level Committee approves the record of rights. The Gram Sabha starts the process by passing a resolution, the Sub-Divisional Level Committee examines it, and the State Level Monitoring Committee only oversees; none of them gives the final decision.

Q8. Match List I with List II:
List I (Law)
A. Indian Forest Act
B. Forest (Conservation) Act
C. Forest Rights Act
D. Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act
List II (Year)
1. 1927
2. 1980
3. 2006
4. 2016
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4
  2. A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4
  3. A-1, B-2, C-4, D-3
  4. A-1, B-3, C-2, D-4
Show answer

Answer: A. A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4

Indian Forest Act 1927, Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, Forest Rights Act 2006, CAF Act 2016. Option 2 swaps the 1927 and 1980 Acts; option 3 swaps the Forest Rights Act and the CAF Act; option 4 swaps the Forest (Conservation) Act and the Forest Rights Act.

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