The Indian Forest Act, 1927 was largely based on previous Indian Forest Acts implemented under the British. The first and most famous was the Indian Forest Act of 1878. Both the 1878 act and the 1927 one sought to consolidate and reserve the areas having forest cover, or significant wildlife, to regulate movement and transit of forest produce, and duty leviable on timber and other forest produce. It also defines the procedure to be followed for declaring an area to be a Reserved Forest, a Protected Forest or a Village Forest. It defines what is a forest offence, what are the acts prohibited inside a Reserved Forest, and penalties leviable on violation of the provisions of the Act. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1122x750, 364 KB) Panthera tigris tigris, Bengaltiger, Indischer Tiger oder Königstiger Public Domain from http://images. ... Now the worlds rarest monkey, the golden langur typifies the precarious survival of much of Indias megafauna. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_India. ... Glimpses of biodiversity India is one of the high biodiversity regions of the world with three biodiversity hotspots - the Western Ghats, the Eastern Himalayas and the Indo-Burma regions. ... . ... The class Mammalia (the Mammals) is divided into two subclasses based on reproductive techniques: egg laying mammals (the Monotremes); and mammals which give live birth. ... // Butterflies of India Approximately 1439 species of butterfly have been described from India. ... This is a list of the fish species found in India and is based on FishBase. ... Conservation Areas in India refer to well-demarcated large geographical entities with an established conservation plan, and were part of a joint Indo-US project on landscape management and protection. The project ran from 1996 to 2002. ... Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Andaman Islands rain forests (India) Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests (India) Chin Hills-Arakan Yoma montane forests (India, Myanmar) Eastern highlands moist deciduous forests (India) Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests (Bhutan, India, Nepal) Malabar Coast moist forests (India) Maldives-Lakshadweep-Chagos Archipelago tropical moist forests... Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Government of India is an internationally renowned premiere institution in India which trains wildlife managers and wildlife researchers. ... Indias first National Park (IUCN Category II Protected area) was Hailey National Park, now Jim Corbett National Park, established in 1935. ... The Indian government has established 4 Biosphere Reserves (UNESCO categories roughly corresponding to IUCN Category V Protected areas), which protect larger areas of natural habitat (than a National Park or Animal Sanctuary), and often include one or more National Parks and/or preserves, along buffer zones that are open to... The Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests is a cabinet ministry in the Government of India, and is responsible for the planning, promotion, co-ordination and overseeing the implementation of environmental and forestry programmes in the country. ... The Indian Forest Service (IFS) is one of the All India Services of the Government of India; some other important services being the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS). ... Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal (IIFM) (founded 1982) is an autonomous institution located at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, India, established by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India with assistance from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. ... Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation project initiated in India in 1972 to protect the Bengal Tigers. ... The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 refers to a sweeping package of legislation enacted in 1972 by the Government of India. ... List of Zoos in India: Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA) is the Governing Authority of all Zoos in India Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad Indira Gandhi Park Jijamata Udyaan, Mumbai Arignar Anna Zoological Park (Vandalur Zoo), Chennai Alipore Zoological Gardens, Kolkata Mysore Zoo, Karnataka Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling... Timber in storage for later processing at a sawmill Timber is a term used to describe wood, either standing or that has been processed for use—from the time trees are felled, to its end product as a material suitable for industrial use—as structural material for construction or wood...

Reserved Forest is an area or mass of land duly notified under section 20 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 [Act 16 of 1927] or under the reservation provisions of the Forest acts of the State Governments of the Indian Union. The manner in which a Reserved Forest, shortly written as RF, has to be constituted is described in section 3 to 20 of the Act. It is within power of a State Government to issue a preliminary notification under section 4 of the Act declaring that it has been decided to constitute such land, as specified in a Schedule with details of its location, area and boundary description, into a Reserved Forest. such a notification also appoints an officer of the State Government, normally the Deputy Commissioner of the concernned district, as Forest Settlement Officer. The Forest Settlement Officer fixes a period not less than three months, to hear the claims and objections of every person having or claiming any rights over the land which is so notified to be reserved. He conducts inquiries into the claims of rights, and may reject or accept the same. He is empowered even to acquire land over which right is claimed. For rights other than that of right of way, right of pasture, right to forest produce, or right to a water course, the Forest Settlement Officer may exclude such land in whole or in part, or come to an agreement with the owner for surrender of his rights, or proceed to acquire such land in the manner prescribed under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 [Act 1 of 1894]. Once the Forest Settlement Officer settles all the rights either by admitting them or rejecting them, as per the provisions of the Act, and has heard appeals, if any, and settled the same, all the rights with the said piece of land [boundaries of which might have been altered or modified during the settlement process] vest with the State Government. Thereafter, the State Government issues notification under section 20 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 declaring that piece of land to be a Reserved Forest.

Protected Forest is an area or mass of land, which is not a reserved forest, and over which the Government has property rights, declared to be so by a State Government under the provisions of the section 29 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927. It does not require the long and tedious process of settlement, as in case of declaration of a reserved forest. However, if such a declaration infringes upon a person's rights, the Government may cause an inquiry into the same; but pending such inquiries, the declaration cannot abridge or affect such rights of persons or communities. Further, in a protected forest, the Government may issue notifications declaring certain trees to be reserved, or suspend private rights, if any, for a period not exceeding 30 years, or prohibit quarrying, removal of any forest produce, or breaking of land etc.

Village Forest is constituted under section 28 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927. The Government may assign to any village community the rights over a land which may be a part of a reserved forest for use of the community. Usually, forested community lands are constituted into Village Grazing Reserve [VGR]. Parcels of land so notified are marked on the settlement revenue maps of the villages.

See also:

• Reserved forests and protected forests of India
• Communal forests of India

References

• “India’s Forest Conservation Legislaton: Acts, Rules, Guidelines”, from the Official website of: Government of India, Ministry of Environment & Forests
• Wildlife Legislations, including - “The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act” from the Official website of: Government of India, Ministry of Environment & Forests
• “Legislations on Environment, Forests, and Wildlife” from the Official website of: Government of India, Ministry of Environment & Forests
• The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
• Official website of: Government of India, Ministry of Environment & Forests