Context:

• Tension mounted in Kondapalli reserve forests with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders planned to visit the forests, alleging illegal mining.

About the Kondapalli Reserve Forest:

• It is a reserved forest in the Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
• It is spread over an area of 30,000 acres (120 km2) and is under the protection of Andhra Pradesh Forest Department.
• Tella poniki softwood is found in the forest which is useful in making the Kondapalli Toys.

What is a reserve forest?

• Forest reserves are portions of state lands where commercial harvesting of wood products is excluded to capture elements of biodiversity that can be missing from sustainably harvested sites.
• A reserved forest is the forests accorded a certain degree of protection.
• The term was first introduced in the Indian Forest Act, 1927 in British Raj, to refer to certain forests granted protection under the British crown in British India.
• Land rights to forests declared to be Reserved forests are typically acquired and owned by the Government of India.
• Unlike national parks of India or wildlife sanctuaries of India, reserved forests are declared by the respective state governments.
• In Reserved forests, rights to all activities like hunting, grazing, etc. are banned unless specific orders are issued otherwise.
• The first Reserve Forest Of India was Satpura National Park.
• Protected forests are of two kinds - demarcated protected forests and undemarcated protected forests, based on whether the limits of the forest have been specified by a formal notification.

What is the process of earmarking the land as a forest?

• Under Section 4 of The Indian Forest Act, 1927, the state government can “constitute any land a reserved forest” by issuing a notification in the Official Gazette, “declaring that it has been decided to constitute such land a reserved forest”, and “specifying, as nearly as possible, the situation and limits of such land”
• The government must also appoint a Forest Settlement Officer (FSO) “to inquire into and determine the existence, nature and extent of any rights alleged to exist in favour of any person in or over any land comprised within such limits or in or over any forest-produce, and to deal with the same”.
• The FSO will seek suggestions and objections from residents and others within 45 days of initiating the process.
• After taking into account the suggestions and objections, the process of turning the land into a reserved forest will be completed.
• Thereafter, the area will be protected from any construction.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/tension-in-kondapalli-reserve-forests-police-arrange-pickets/article35646827.ece?homepage=true

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