NEW DELHI: THE Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has urged all states and union territories to adopt the model rules for “Felling of Trees on Agricultural Land.”
On June 29, the MoEFCC released the model rules related to agroforestry to encourage tree plantation on agricultural land and to reduce bureaucratic hurdles in trading trees planted on such land. The ministry aims to set up an enabling framework where growers can do seamless agroforestry business across the country.
Currently, farmers can grow trees on their land but face challenges in conducting business smoothly. They must obtain a proper licence from forest officials to relocate their agroforestry woods to other locations, it read.
To harmonise the state’s rules for the transit of agroforestry harvest wood, the MoEFCC conducted two consultations on April 24 and May 19. Based on their inputs, the model rules were created.
However, experts believe that the introduction of technology in the model rules complicates the existing regulations even further. There is also a possibility that some states may object to these rules.
According to the model rules, applicants are required to register their plantations on the National Timber Management System (NTMS) portal, which is currently under development. This involves submitting basic plantation data, including land ownership information, location of the farm with a KML file, species, plantation period, etc.
“I find the model rules do not help the farmers but further complicate the process by allowing forest officers to keep checking the plantation to maintain records,” said Ashish Mondal, an Agroforestry expert engaged in making the national agroforestry policy.
“Our effort should be to remove the role of forest officer in the whole process, as agricultural land doesn’t fall in their mandate. The model policy fails to reverse the process where forest officials should be made to prove that wood doesn’t belong to their forest,” said Mondal.
Meanwhile, the letter said that states and UTs shall examine the model rules to consider their adoption and notification for felling of trees in agricultural land.“MoEFCC will extend necessary technical support to states and UTs for adoption and implementation, and capacity building required for integration of agroforestry,” the letter said.