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MODULE III
FOREST CONSERVATION
INTRODUCTION
Today majority of people in India live in the rural areas.
Forest plays an important role in the rural economy. Fruits of
Mahua tree, leaves of sal and tendu trees are gathered by local
people. They are a source of earning cash income from local
markets. Forests provide jobs and incomes that supplements
agricultural production. Forest produce like fuel, wood, food
and building material for the home.
70%of rural people depend on fuel food. In India Forest
Sector is the largest land use after agriculture. 300 million
people live near forests. About 100 million are completely
dependent on forests for survival. They make a living by
collecting and selling leaves, bamboo, fruits, seeds gums and
medicinal plants.
The first Forest law was made by the British Government for
protecting their commercial interest.
The Indian Forest Act, 1927
The first Act- The Indian Forest Act was passed in 1927.
This Act was to secure exclusive state control over forests to
protect timber trees and other forest produce.
The Act defined state ownership over forest areas. It reserved
the power to regulate use of forest. Finally they used the
power to substitute or override customary rights.
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The Act created three categories of forestS, namely

 Reserved Forests
 Village Forests
 Protected Forests
Reserved forests are the most protected of these three
categories. No rights can be acquired in reserved forests.
Except by succession or under a grant or contract with the
government. Felling trees, grazing cattle, removing forest
products, quarrying, hunting and fishing in RF areas was an
offence.
Indian forest Act is an act of central government.
“Nistar” rights were recognised in few cases. Nistar rights are
traditional rights of access and rights of using forest produce.
Village Forest- State government could assign rights of use
of a government forest to a village. They could use it for
forest-produce. It was the duty of the villagers to protect and
improve such forests.
Critique of 1927 Act
 1927 Act paved the way for commercialization of
forests in India
 Eviction of traditional forest communities from their
natural habitat

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 Viewed forest as a source of revenue and raw

materials
 The result was large scale deforestation and
deterioration of forest habitat
In this context, the Independent India enacted a new law,
which was Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 (FCA, 1980)

The Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 (FCA, 1980) is an act
by the Parliament of India which ensures conservation of
forest and its resources.
It was enacted by the Parliament of India in order to control
the ongoing deforestation of the forests of India. It came into
force on October 25, 1980 containing five sections.
Objectives
1. Protect the forest along with its flora, fauna and other
diverse ecological components while preserving the
integrity and territory of the forests.
2. Arrest the loss of forest biodiversity
3. Prevent forest lands being converted into agricultural,
grazing or for any other commercial purposes and
intentions.
4. To protect the forest, its flora, fauna and other diverse
ecological components. To protect the integrity, territory
and individuality of the forests.
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Features
1. The Act restricts the state government and other
authorities to take decisions first without permission
from the central government.
2. The Forest Conservation Act gives complete authority to
the Central government to carry out the objectives of the
act.
3. The Act levies penalties in case of violations of the
provisions of FCA.
4. The Forest Conservation Act will have an advisory
committee which will help the Central government with
regard to forest conservation.
SECTIONS
Section 1: Title and scope
Section 1 of the Act talks about its title, scope and
commencement. This Act is known as the Forest
(Conservation) Act, 1980. This law applies to the whole
country except Jammu and Kashmir.
Section 2: Restriction of forests being used for non-forest
purposes.
The section lists restrictions where state authorities cannot
make laws regarding forest without the permissions of the
Central Government. The emphasis is on ‘non forest
purposes’ which means that clearing forest land for the
planting of:
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 Tea
 Coffee
 Spices
 Rubber
 Palms
 Oil-bearing
 Medicinal plants
Section 3: Advisory committee
As per Section 3 of this Act, the Central government has the
power to constitute an advisory committee to advice on
matters related to advising the central government on the
preservation of forests.
Section 3A: Penalties
This Section 3A was added by the amendment made in 1988.
According to this section, whoever violates or abets the
violation of any law contained under Section 2 shall be
punished with simple imprisonment for any prescribed term
which may increase up to 15 days.
Section 3B: Offences by authorities and government
offices
This Section 3B was also added by the amendment made in
1988. This section talks about the offences committed by the
Authorities and the government Department.
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According to section 3B(1), whenever any offence under this

Act is committed by any department of the government, head
of the government, any authority or any person who at the
time of the commission of the offence was responsible for the
conduct of business, shall be made liable for the offence under
the Act.
However, the same person can save himself by proving that
the offence was committed without his knowledge and also,
he took all the possible measures to prevent the commission
of the offence.
According to Section 3B (2), when an offence under this Act
has been committed by a person other than the department of
the government, head of the government or the authority
mentioned under sub-section 1, with his consent or due to his
negligence, then such persons shall be declared guilty under
the Act and also be made liable to proceedings and
punishments.
Section 4: Rulemaking power
Under Section 4, the Central government has the power to
carry out the laws prescribed under this Act, by notifying in
the official gazette. Before forming any rule, it should be
presented before both houses of the parliament for a period of
thirty days. Both the houses of the parliament shall agree to do
the modification or form the new rule under the Act.
Section 5: Repeal

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This section of the Act repealed the Forest (Conservation)

Ordinance, 1980.
IMPORTANT CASE LAWS
Tarun Bharat Singh v. Union of India (1993)
In the instant case, a voluntary organisation approached the
Supreme Court through a PIL filed under Article 32 of the
Indian Constitution. The petition was against the illegal
mining going on in the reserved area of the Alwar District.
Despite the fact that the area was reserved under the Act, the
state government had granted hundreds of licences for mining
marble.
The Court held that whenever an area is declared as the
protected forest it comes within the purview of the Forest
(Conservation) Act and now, the State government cannot
carry on any non-forest activity in the reserved area without
the prior permission of the Central government. As mining is
a non-forest activity, the State government’s action to grant a
licence for mining or renewing their licence for mining is
contrary to law. An interlocutory direction was also passed to
the State government and the mine owners to stop the illegal
activity in the reserved area.
State of MP v. Krishnadas Tikaram (1994)
In this case, the respondents were granted the mining lease of
limestone in the forest area in the year of 1966 for a period of
20 years. In 1986, after its expiry, the respondents approached
the State government for its renewal. The State government
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passed the orders to renew the lease for further 20 years. The
Forest Department cancelled this order. This cancellation was
challenged before the Supreme Court of India.
The Court held that under Section 2 of the Forest
(Conservation) Act, the state cannot grant or renew the licence
without the prior approval of the Central government.
Therefore, the cancellation of the order was properly made.
Krishnadevi Malchand Kamathia v. Bombay Environmental
Action (2011)
In this case, an application was filed by the District collector
to initiate the contempt proceedings against the appellants for
violating the orders to the court. The court had issued
directions to remove the newly constructed bund so that
seawater can come in to protect the mangrove forests. The
order tried to restrain the appellants from indulging in any
activity which will harm the mangrove forests. The appellants
have the licence to manufacture salt at the place.
The Supreme Court held that the manufacturing of salt by
solar evaporation of seawater is not permitted in the area as
that area is home to the mangrove forests. The mangrove
forests are of great ecological importance and are also
ecologically sensitive and that is why they fall under the
category of CRZ-I (Coastal Regulatory Zone-I). The Coastal
Area Classification and Development Regulations, 1991
classifies the Coastal Regulatory Zone, and according to it,
the manufacturing of salt is prohibited.

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