Analyses on the ecological, social, economic, and institutional aspects of forest policy.

The forest discourse in India has shifted decisively from questions of management to questions of governance. The essays in this book highlight and explore how this shift is occurring and what the challenges to democratic forest governance are. It covers questions of local management, wildlife conservation and forest conversion, as well as the changing socio-economic context of forestry in India.

The book delves into the intricate relationship between India’s forest governance, laws, and policies over time, examining their effects on the quality and coverage of the country’s forests. Historically, especially during the British era and the initial phase following independence, forests were valued for timber, leading to increased deforestation to fulfill the rising demands of shipbuilding, railways, residential construction, and industry. The economic benefits derived from converting forest land for developmental purposes were a key factor in this trend. However, recent statistics indicate that except Maharashtra, most of the forest rich states including MP and Chhattisgarh have lagged in economic development. The history of overexploitation and diversion for non-forestry use has also led to less forest area per capita. India has lost tree biomass much more than its productivity potential, and the average biological productivity of Indian forest is much below the global average. It is extremely important to restore the health of natural forests which are, by far, the best and a highly cost-effective carbon sequestering machine provided by nature. The book also provides research data, both at national and global scales to convincingly put forward the contention that natural forests are sine qua non and under no circumstances can farm and roadside plantations, tea and coffee plantations, and orchards be a substitute for natural forest for three important reasons: (1) the influence of natural forest on rainfall, (2) the complexity in maintaining energy flow, and (3) the impact of natural forest or deforested sites on soil.

Contributed articles presented earlier at a national conference organized by Dept. of History, Tata College during 2-3 March 2005, and sponsored by UGC, Eastern Regional Office.

This curated book addresses, in the scholarly realm, the problems of soil degradation and provides some practical solutions for them to save soil life. It comprises ten specially invited chapters that address the global soil framework, soil challenges in India, existing policy, law and institutional framework as well as other perspectives. Soil is our biological capital. The soil health is critical for survival of the humans (and other life forms) since almost 95% of our food comes from it. It also has significant potential as a sink for carbon through sequestering. Excessive and inappropriate land use leads to various forms of land degradation that becomes contributing factor for hunger, migration and even wars. There are several multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) including UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) that hold relevance for addressing the global soil problematique. The UNCCD Strategic Framework (2018-2030) has declared desertification/land degradation and drought (DLDD) as “challenges of a global dimension”. As a result, sustainable soil management (SSM) has emerged as an important goal for attaining Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs 2030). In the backdrop of these globally ordained processes, India appears to be seriously pursuing the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) target within the framework of the UNCCD. As a corollary, India has set an ambitious goal of halting any further land degradation by 2030 and rehabilitate at least 30 million hectares of degraded wasteland, forest land and agricultural land. This ideational effort by eminent legal scholars, soil scientists and practitioners aim to promote concerted teaching and research in the field of soil law and governance in the University Faculties of Law, National Law Schools, Institutions of Eminence and other legal and scientific bodies. The ‘seeds sown’ in the soil of knowledge through this effort will, hopefully, provide an impetus for more in-depth research concerning soil law and governance in India and beyond.