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APSC Mains GS Paper 3: 2023: Do you think that the Green Credit Programme can be used to circumvent existing laws, particularly those that deal with forest conservation? Substantiate your answer. (10 Marks, 150 words)

Model Answer:

The MoEFCC’s Green Credit Programme (GCP), designed to incentivize environmental actions, faces criticism for potentially creating loopholes in Compensatory Afforestation (CA) norms under the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023.

Potential to Circumvent Conservation Laws

Diluting the ‘Land-for-Land’ Rule: Allowing credits generated on state-owned degraded forests to offset new diversions shifts CA to a “cash-for-forest” model, failing to add new non-forest land to the ecosystem.
Ecological Greenwashing: Planting commercial monocultures on natural scrublands misclassified as ‘degraded’ destroys native ecology and cannot replace the complex biodiversity of diverted natural forests.
Accelerating Clearances: A ready ‘credit bank’ allows user agencies to bypass the difficult, localized search for CA land, fast-tracking industrial diversions.
Bypassing FRA 2006: Relying on centralized state-managed land banks for afforestation risks overriding mandatory Gram Sabha consent and tribal rights.

Regulatory Safeguards (Counter-Measures) Recent MoEFCC revisions have introduced strict guardrails to prevent outright misuse:

Outcome-Based Metrics: Credits are strictly survival-based, requiring 5 years of maintenance and a minimum 40% canopy density before issuance.
Higher Exchange Ratios: User agencies must surrender 2 to 4 times the restored area against the diverted land, depending on the state’s baseline forest cover.
Restricted Utility: Green Credits used for CA are strictly non-tradable in the open market and are extinguished upon a single use.

Striking a balance requires independent ecological audits to ensure the GCP functions as a genuine environmental restoration mechanism rather than a procedural shortcut for deforestation.

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