New Amendments to the Act that Provide for Auctioning of Government Forests should be Stopped Immediately
Published
New Amendments to the Act that Provide for Auctioning of Government Forests should be Stopped Immediately
Drafting of the amendment bill to amend the relevant sections of the Forest Conservation Ordinance in order to provide for the allocation of state forests for investment projects, which is a critical need of the present government, has already been completed with the intervention of Nishantha Edirisinghe, Conservator General of Forests. A large number of forests, that are not reserved forests or conservation forests and that are proposed to be declared as reserved forests in future, had been protected as other forests belonging to the state under Section 20 of the Forest Conservation Ordinance No. 16 of 1907 last amended by Act No. 65 of 2009. These are unique forest systems that connect the reserved forests, that act as water catchment areas for lakes and reservoirs, that provide habitat for many rare and endemic species that are endangered or threatened, and that serve as key habitats and corridors for elephants. The proposed amendment has been drafted with the key objective of amending Section 20 of this Ordinance, which ensures the protection of the said forests, so that those forests can be made available for commercial use.
It was on 21st August 2018 that Cabinet approval was obtained for amending the Forest Conservation Ordinance. Through the Cabinet Paper submitted for the said purpose, approval has been obtained for amending this Ordinance for the preservation of forests for the benefit of future generations, for the protection of the mineral resources in the reserved forests, for further strengthening of the powers of the forest conservation officers to preserve forests with special focus on biodiversity, soil, water, and cultural, religious, historical and aesthetic values. The proposed amendment bill has been drafted based on that approval, however the amendments have been made in contravention of all the objectives stated in the approved Cabinet Paper.
It has been stated in the proposed bill that a new Section 20(a) is added following Section 20 of the Forest Conservation Ordinance in order to add Sections providing for the declaration of other forests owned by the state as multiple-use management forests. Accordingly, the proposed amendment bill introduces a process that gives powers to the Minister in charge of the Subject to empower and manage non-governmental sectors to gain economic benefits through the generation of renewable energy, implementing eco-tourism projects and other identified activities in a multiple-use management forest. What is apparent from the inclusion of such clauses in the bill is that the proposed amendments to the Act have been drafted in complete contravention of the objectives stated in the Cabinet Paper through which approval has been obtained for the amendments.