Private Vs Public ownership of Forest in India-analysis and few suggestions for change to increase forest cover

Abstract

arious forest legislations enacted over some time have been extremely important in shaping the forest landscape of India. Even though the Indian Forest Act, of 1927 applies to forests declared as such under the provisions of this Act, Section 38 provides that if any owner of land, desires that his land should be managed by the Forest Department as a reserved/protected forest, the management of such land can be done on mutually agreed terms with the owner of land without depriving the owner of land of his right in the property. This is a significant and visionary proviso in the Act. There are many laws and forest policies of 1952 and 1988 which regulate the protection and conservation of forests but they do not inspire people at large to take it as a mass movement in furthering the causes of forests. For example, the 1952 and 1988 Forest Policies recognize limited individual /community ownership but it does not take the shape of mass movement. Therefore, the only solution that seems on the horizon is a Public-Private partnership with a long-term contractual agreement or Tripartite agreement between the State Govt, local body and individual growers or with Easement rights to local people.