GS Paper 3
Syllabus: Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment
Source: TH
Context: India’s compensatory afforestation policy that allows forests in one part to be cut down and replaced with those elsewhere is contested on many grounds.
Background:
- Afforestation is part of India’s climate pledges – adding a carbon sink of 2.5-3 GtCO2e through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
- According to the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, the project proponent that wishes to divert the land must identify land elsewhere to afforest and pay for the afforestation exercise.
- Afforestation is also codified in the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) – a body created on the SC’s orders in 2002 and chaired by the Union Environment Minister.
- CAMPA is meant to promote afforestation and regeneration activities as a way of compensating for forest land diverted to non-forest uses (dam or mine).
- It was made a legal requirement through the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act 2016.
Why is afforestation contested?
- According to the Synthesis Report of the IPCC, the preservation of natural ecosystems rather than restoring the destroyed ones is being recognised as an important means to mitigate climate change.
- According to the CAG report (2013), most of the money (~Rs 47,000 crore in 2019) in the CAMPA fund had been unspent.
- CAMPA has also come under fire for facilitating the destruction of natural ecosystems → adversely impacting livelihood, biodiversity, hydrology and the climate.
- Planting non-native species or artificial plantations wouldn’t compensate for the ecosystem loss as well be hazardous to the existing ecosystem.
- For example, the Haryana govt is planning to develop the world’s largest curated safari using CAMPA funds received from deforestation in Great Nicobar.
Significance of the natural ecosystems: Provides biodiversity, local livelihoods, hydrological services and sequester carbon.
Recommendations: Renewable energy projects like wind and solar plants must be promoted to mitigate the adverse impacts of natural ecosystem diversion.
Challenges for India:
- Many solar parks in India have triggered conflicts with people living nearby.
- Wind farms in the Western Ghats had reduced the abundance and activity of predatory birds, which consequently increased the density of lizards.
Conclusion:
- Climate actions, such as technologies to combat climate change, renewable energy farms, etc. should not come at the cost of natural ecosystems.
- Not degrading existing ecosystems in the first place will do more to lower the impact of the climate crisis than restoring ecosystems that have been destroyed.
Related news: DTE
Context: CSE-DTE releases 2023 State of India’s Environment report.
Findings of the report:
● The year 2022-2023 saw two huge trends in terms of the environment: The reversal of gains for the energy transition and the overwhelming impact of climate change.
● In 2022, India witnessed extreme weather events on 271 days out of 304 days, which claimed over 2,900 lives.
● Over 30,000 water bodies have been encroached on in the country.
● India is generating 150,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste every day – more than half of which is either dumped in landfills or remains unattended.
● Four years and 11 months is the average duration of life lost to air pollution in India and rural India is losing more years.
● Environmental crimes continue unabated and courts need to decide on 245 cases every day to clear the backlog.
● India’s overall global rank in meeting the UN-mandated SDGs has slipped to 121/163 in 2022.
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