Mohan Yadav pauses new afforestation policy after protests by tribals
Chief minister Mohan Yadav’s fresh instructions come against the backdrop of his decision to not pursue a draft forest restoration draft policy in its existing form
BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav has ordered the state’s forest department to formulate a new policy to improve the “health” of forests after discussions with stakeholders including forest dwellers, people familiar with the matter said.
Yadav’s fresh instructions come against the backdrop of his decision to not pursue a draft forest restoration draft policy that sought to allow the state government to hand over degraded forest land to private sector entities and NGOs for afforestation with the right to sell 50% of the minor forest produce due to protests by tribal groups. Degraded forests account for 38% of Madhya Pradesh’s total forest cover,
An official at the chief minister’s office said the decision to put the draft policy on hold was taken after tribal and forest experts conveyed their concerns to Yadav.
“The forest department had planned to sign memorandum of understanding with private partners for afforestation. Tribal community experts and representatives sought a time to meet the chief minister to inform him that this policy could contradict with the rights of the tribals,” a CMO official said.
MP’s additional chief secretary (forest), Ashok Varnwal, said they were working on a new policy. “As per the direction of the chief minister, we are working on the policy. Discussions will be held with all stakeholders including forest dwellers and tribal community before moving the plan further,” Varnwal said.
According to the draft policy, the state government planned to hand over degraded forests to private players for 60 years to plant tree species of their choice, who would have been permitted to trade in forest produce, excluding timber. HT had first reported the draft policy on February 3.
In the first part, the government proposed to hand over at least 10 hectares of degraded forest to private players for using funds under corporate social responsibility (CSR) for afforestation. In the second part, forest land between 25 to 1,000 hectares was to be given to plant any species of their choice with the rights to sell 50% of the minor forest produce.
“The chief minister held a meeting last week with tribal experts and officers and decided to halt the plan as the policy was creating resentment among tribals,” the CMO official said.
