People's rights over forests are legally unassailable

The Delhi government is in a quandary about declaring the Delhi Ridge a reserved forest. Claims to the area must be settled by the forest settlement officer before the government can issue a final

By allowing industrial plantations on forest land, the ministry of environment and forests has become profiteering industry's captive

A continual tug of war between various agencies helped the Forest Conservation Act to evolve to its present form.

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (i) of section 4 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (69 of 1980), the Central Government hereby makes the Rules to implement provisions of that Act relating to the composition and conduct of business of an Advisory Committee constituted under section 3 of the Act and procedures for approval

An Act to provide for the conservation of forests and for matters connected therewith or ancillary or incidental thereto. This Act may be called the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

This is the final report of Justice M B Shah Commission on illegal mining of iron ore and manganese in Goa. Says that lack of coordination within the Ministry of Environment and forests led to the illegalities and consequential ecological damage.

08 Sep 2010

The rejection of forest clearance for mining Niyamgiri is indeed a historic decision.

Under the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, if a project requires diversion of forestland for non-forest use, prior approval of the Centre is imperative. For this, one needs to apply to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) through the state forest department. A Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) at MoEF scrutinizes the proposal and based on certain criteria either grants or rejects clearance. The approval depends on the achievements of the state government concerned to guarantee land for compensatory afforestation.

gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's attempt to appease tribals has backfired. On Gandhi Jayanti Modi handed over the ownership of forestland to 30 tribals and also promised to regularize the 2,204 claims over forestland. This, experts say, was in clear defiance of the Supreme Court ruling which barred any diversion of forestland without its nod.

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