Uttarakhand Approved Forest Panchayat Amendment Rules | 16 Mar 2024

Why in News?

Recently, in an effort to make Van (Forest) Panchayats strong and self-reliant, the Uttarakhand government during a cabinet meeting approved the Forest Panchayat Amendment Rules, under which the British-era ‘Acts of Forest Panchayat’ have been amended.

Key Points

• According to the new rules, a nine-member forest panchayat will be formed, which will have the rights to participate in herbal production, tree planting, water harvesting, forest fire prevention, eco-tourism.
• For the first time three-tier local bodies have also been linked to the forest management of Van Panchayat.
  • The concept of van panchayat- legally demarcated village forests which are managed and its natural resources shared by village communities introduced in 1921.
• Uttarakhand is the only state in India where the van panchayat system is implemented.
  • It is a historical community forest management organisation which has been operating since the year 1930.
  • At present, 11,217 forest panchayats are in the state of which have 4.52 lakh hectares of forest area.
• The cabinet gave approval to the ‘Uttarakhand Clean Mobility Transformation Policy’ with an aim to improve public transport in urban areas and reduce pollution caused by old diesel fueled buses and three wheeler tempos.
  • The policy would be first implemented in Dehradun and thereafter extended to other districts.