Journal of Agroecology and Natural Resource Management Print ISSN: 2394-0786, Online ISSN: 2394-0794, Volume 2, Number 3; April-June 2015 pp. 207-209 © Krishi Sanskriti Publications http://www.krishisanskriti.org/janrm.html
Policy Analysis for Deforestation in India and its Impact
Siddhartha Saxena Indian Institute of Management, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract—The problems of deforestation have been causing some cultural, and macroeconomic conditions [1]. Broadly, three growing concerns for decades throughout the globe and India is no major barriers to enacting effective policies to reduce forest exception. Ever since civilization has become more advanced with loss are: (i) profitability incentives often run counter to forest new technology, humans have been exploiting various resources of conservation and sustainable forest management [2]; (ii) many nature for profit and survival. Due to the rise of the world’s direct and indirect drivers of deforestation lie outside of the population and the potential promise of wealth, greed has seemed to cause the rampant over-exploitation of earth’s natural resources, forest sector, especially in agricultural policies and markets thus leading to environmental issues like deforestation. In places like [3]; and (iii) limited regulatory and institutional capacity and India, the effects of deforestation have caused irreparable damage insufficient resources constrain the ability of many across the country wiping out natural habitats and delicate governments to implement forest and related sectoral policies ecosystems.Many environmental historians hold the opinion that the on the ground [4]. large-scale destruction of the forests in India is rooted in the commercially oriented forest use and ownership policies as suggested In the face of these challenges, national forest policies by the government and these have continued in their essence for designed to slow deforestation on public lands in developing several years even in post independence India. In more recent times it countries have had mixed success: is the new policies and programs of development; rapid industrialization, urbanization and growing consumerism that has 2. NATIONAL INITIATIVES resulted in the wide-scale destruction of the forests, although there are mechanism and polcies both in terms of mitigating and analyzing In countries where institutional and regulatory capacities are the impact of deforestation both by environmentalist and the policy insufficient, new clearing by commercial and small-scale makers.The ground realities are very different. Today In the era when agriculturalists responding to market signals continues to be a we talk about land growth deforestation related policies needs a new dominant driver of deforestation [3]. look out. The paper talksabout variouspolciies and there effectiveness using the literature and dataaviable through secondary resources. A number of national initiatives are underway to combat illegal logging [5]. While these have increased the number of Keywords: Mitigation. Policy Analysis, Deforestation, Reality check. charges and convictions, it is too early to assess their impact on forest degradation and deforestation. 1. INTRODUCTION Legally protecting forests by designating protected areas, Despite repeated promises and claims of green policies, indigenous reserves, non-timber forest reserves and government and companies have so far failed to seriously community reserves have proven effective in maintaining address the problem of deforestation. Destructive and illegal forest cover in some countries, while in others, a lack of logging is laying waste to huge areas of forest, making a resources and personnel result in the conversion of legally massive contribution towards climate change and is having a protected forests to other land uses [5]. devastating effect on forest-dwelling people and wildlife. China [6], the Philippines and Thailand [7] have significantly 1)Poorly enforced policies reduced deforestation rates in response to experiencing severe Our own government in particular should feel awful by the environmental and public health consequences of forest loss way we are mitigating the whole issue and neglecting it. The and degradation. In India, the Joint Forest Management government agencies claim that it is working to protect forests programme has been effective in partnering with communities elsewhere in the world, but its efforts at preventing its own to reduce forest degradation [8]. These examples indicate that issues which have caused catastrophe like Kedaarnath tragedy. strong and motivated government institutions and public support are key factors in implementing effective forest The causes of tropical deforestation are complex, varying policies. across countries and over time in response to different social, 208 Siddhartha Saxena
Options for maintaining forests on private lands in developing approaches and positive incentives for reducing emissions countries are generally more limited than on public lands, as from deforestation in developing countries [17]. governments typically have less regulatory control. An Other proposals emphasize accommodation to diverse national important exception is private landholdings in the Brazilian circumstances, including differing levels of development, and Amazon, where the government requires that landowners include a suggestion of separate targets for separate sectors maintain 80% of the property under forest cover. Although [18]. This includes a “no-lose” target, whereby emission this regulation has had limited effectiveness in the past [9], allowances can be sold if the target is reached. No additional recent experience with a licensing and monitoring system in emission allowances would have to be bought if the target was the state of MatoGrosso has shown that commitment to not met. A multi-stage approach such that the level of enforcement can significantly reduce deforestation rates. commitment of an individual country increases gradually over A recently developed approach is for governments to provide time; capacity building and technology research and environmental service payments to private forest owners in development; or quantified sectoral emission limitation and developing countries, thereby providing a direct financial reduction commitments similar to Annex 1 commitments incentive for the retention of forest cover. Relatively high under the Kyoto Protocol [19]. transaction costs and insecure land and resource tenure have thus far limited applications of this approach in many 3. POLICIES AIMED TO PROMOTE countries [9]. However, significant potential may exist for AFFORESTATION AND REFORESTATION developing payment schemes for restoration and retention of forest cover to provide climate mitigation and watershed Non-climate forest policies have a longhistory in successful protection services. creation of plantation forests on both public and private lands in developing and developed countries. If governments have In addition to national-level policies, numerous international strong regulatory and institutional capacities, they may policy initiatives to support countries in their efforts to reduce successfully control land use on public lands, and state deforestation have also been attempted: Forest policy agencies can reforest these lands directly. In cases where such processes, such as the UN Forum on Forests, and the capacities are more limited, governments may enter into joint International Tropical Timber Organization have provided management agreements with communities, so that both support to national forest planning efforts but have not yet had parties share the costs and benefits of plantation establishment demonstrable impacts on reducing deforestation [10]. [20]. Incentives for plantation establishment may take the The World Bank has modified lending policies to reduce the form of afforestation grants, investment in transportation and risk of direct negative impacts to forests, but this does not roads, energy subsidies, tax exemptions for forestry appear to have measurably slowed deforestation [11]. investments, and tariffs against competing imports[21]. In contrast to conservation of existing forests, the underlying The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Forestry financial incentives to establish plantations may be positive. Programme has for decades provided a broad range of However, the creation of virtually all significant plantation technical support in sustainable forest management [12]; estates has relied upon government support, at least in the assessing measurable impacts has been limited by the lack of initial stages. This is due, in part, to the illiquidity of the an effective monitoring programme [13]. investment, the high cost of capital establishment and long waiting period for financial return. Taken together, non-climate policies have had minimal impact on slowing tropical deforestation, the single largest 4. POLICIES TO IMPROVE FOREST contribution of land-use change to global carbon emissions. MANAGEMENT One potential source of additional financing for reducing deforestation in developing countries is through well- Industrialized countries generally have sufficient resources to constructed carbon markets or other environmental service implement policy changes in public forests. However, the fact payment schemes[15].Under the UNFCCC and Kyoto that these forests are already managed to relatively high Protocol, no climate policies currently exist to reduce standards may limit possibilities for increasing sequestration emissions from deforestation or forest degradation in through changed management practices (e.g., by changing developing countries. The decision to exclude avoided species mix, lengthening rotations, reducing harvest damage deforestation projects from the CDM in the Kyoto Protocol’s and or accelerating replanting rates). There may be first commitment period was in part based on methodological possibilities to reduce harvest rates to increase carbon storage concerns. These concerns are particularly associated with however, for example, by reducing harvest rates and/or additionality and baseline setting and whether leakage could harvest damage. be sufficiently controlled or quantified to allow for robust carbon crediting [16]. In December 2005, COP-11 established Governments typically have less authority to regulate land use a two-year process to review relevant scientific, technical, and on private lands, and so have relied upon providing incentives methodological issues and to consider possible policy to maintain forest cover, or to improve management. These incentives can take the form of tax credits, subsidies, cost
Journal of Agroecology and Natural Resource Management Print ISSN: 2394-0786, Online ISSN: 2394-0794, Volume 2, Number 3; April-June 2015 Policy Analysis for Deforestation in India and its Impact 209
sharing, contracts, technical assistance, and environmental [9] Alves, D.S., J.L.G. Pereira, C.L. de Sousa, J.V. Soares, and F. service payments. In the United States, for example, several Yamaguchi, 1999: Characterizing landscape changes in central government programmes promote the establishment, retention, Rondonia using Landsat TM imagery. International Journal of and improved management of forest cover on private lands, Remote Sensing, 20, pp. 2877-2882. [10] Grieg-Gran, M., 2004: Making environmental service often of marginal agricultural quality payments work for the poor: some experiences from Latin The lack of robust institutional and regulatory frameworks, America. International Fund for Agricultural Development trained personnel, and secure land tenure has constrained the Governing Council Side effectiveness of forest management in many developing Event.
Journal of Agroecology and Natural Resource Management Print ISSN: 2394-0786, Online ISSN: 2394-0794, Volume 2, Number 3; April-June 2015