CHENNAI: As the central government has amended the Forest (Conservation) Act, P Subramanyam, deputy director of forests attached to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has said that the amendment will encourage forestry activities in private lands, without private permission.

Speaking at a workshop on the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, on Friday, Subramanyam said that the Forest (Conservation) Act was enacted in 1980.

“There are drastic changes in India and on the global level. If we fail to keep up with the changes, we may fall behind. So, the government has made the amendment,” he added.

He explained that around 10 lakh hectares of forest lands has been diverted to other uses since 1980. But, 12.63 lakh hectares have been restored under compensatory afforestation. Before the Act, 40 lakh hectares were converted.

“The amended act is only applicable for notified forest land and will not be applicable to plantations on non-forest lands,” he explained.