Forests and wildlife at risk

Licence to axe

The Karnataka government has brought in an amendment to the Land Grab Prevention Act to facilitate the regularisation of bagair hukum saguvali or unauthorised cultivation on government land for the landless. For this purpose, the Revenue Department took back 6.64 lakh acres of deemed forests out of 9.94 lakh acres from the Forest Department (KFD) and redeemed them as gomal, kaan, hulbani, and soppina betta, etc., recently.

Unfortunately, some of the redeemed forests contain rich vegetation, like on C&D lands, kaans, soppina bettas, and hulbani in the Western Ghats region and in the inaccessible, highly precipitous hilly ranges and valleys within the river basins of Cauvery, Tungabhadra, Sharavati, Kali, and Netravaati etc. These forests were so far treated as deemed forests or district forests. They have entries in old village maps too and were protected against illicit cutting, loot and encroachments under Sec.33 of KFA and the FCA, 1981, with added strength given by the Supreme Court in its judgement on the PIL 202/1996 of the Godavaram case.

In spite of the vigilance by the KFD with the support of laws, over 1.77 lakh acres of forests have been encroached. The Revenue Department is alleged to have illegally granted 6,725 acres of forest land to individuals. Many encroachment offences cases have been booked and have reached the courts. These cases were linked to the Land Grab Prevention Act by the Forest Department as it has more teeth and has got relief from the onslaught of forest encroachments in Malnad since 2011.

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The Kaan forests in Shivamogga and Uttara Kannada districts outside the redeemed forests are virgin semi-evergreen forests close to villages and have been traditionally protected by the toddy tapper community for centuries with the right to tap toddy, use of usufructs, dead fuelwood, and timber for bonafide purposes. Even today, some kaans are in good condition and many are subjected to vandalism and encroachments. They are rich in biodiversity and have microclimatic ecology, which keeps the water regime, water table, and soil nutrients close to the villages while also acting as carbon sinks, producers of oxygen, wood, and food. The ecological role of kaans has been studied and recorded right from the days of Sir Dietrich Brandis — the first inspector general of forests in India — from the later part of the 19th century till date by many foresters and environmentalists. Now, ecological value of such forests is pegged at Rs 146 crore per year per hectare.

The latest amendment to the Land Grab Prevention Act is to limit its ambit to urban areas and its surroundings. This will pave the way for the withdrawal of cases booked against forest encroachers and grant such encroached redeemed forests to the landless and lease them out to big land grabbers for 30 years. The injustice done to the forests, wildlife, biodiversity, and environment by this amendment is unimaginable. Can we create the kaans and other natural forests again? They are the ecological repositories nurtured by nature and preserved by locals for centuries, of which some are encroached. If these forests are lost, the floral, faunal, and micro-organism biodiversity of the region will be lost forever. This loss cannot be compensated. When the development slogan universally is ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance), how can the government of Karnataka forget 'E' in favour of SG?

The state and the nation are already at the receiving end of the wrath of global warming and climate change in the form of incessant rains, floods, deluges, and landslides with untold miseries, which may be followed by droughts and diseases as natural phenomena. Wildlife is already at the doorsteps of human settlements. If we denude and occupy the still existing forested areas, where else will the ever increasing wildlife go but into human habitations? How then can human-animal conflicts be controlled? The government may pay compensation for the losses in human-animal conflicts, but where will wildlife go for accommodation, foraging, hunting, spreading of genes, etc.?

The wild animals are not limited to protected areas but are spread all over the forested areas. Encroachments in forests were under check because of the fear of severe punishment under the Land Grab Prevention Act in Special Courts. With this amendment to the Land Grab Prevention Act, the people will never care for the forest encroachment cases booked under Sec. 24 and Sec. 33 of the KFA with punishments of up to one year, simple imprisonment and a fine up to Rs 2,000 or both in the case of reserve forests and simple imprisonment for one month and a fine up to Rs 200 or both in the case of district forests in the local courts with many hurdles for foresters in taking the offenders to the court of law.

This amendment to the Land Grab Prevention Act and the direction of the Government of Karnataka to the KFD to go slow till the encroachment issues are settled will open the flood gates to massacre the existing forests, plunder the tree growth and start cultivation all over the state in reserve forests and district forests as if a free licence is given for all. A dangerous situation is created for forests and wildlife in Karnataka while appeasing the encroachers.

The Forest Department and the forest minister have to rise to the occasion to counter this blow posed by the Revenue Department by bringing in immediate amendment to Sec.24 and Sec.33 of KFA, 1963 for enhancement of punishment for offenders of forest encroachments with a minimum of three years and up to seven years RI and a fine of Rs10,000-25,000 or both for reserve forests. RI of one year to three years and a fine of Rs 2,000-5,000 or both in the case of district forests with special power to forest officers similar to WLPA, 1972, against encroachments with provisions to claim compensation for the loss of ecological value to save the existing forests from the axe of encroachments in the interest of ESG.

(The writer is former IFS officer and author)