The Senior Citizens’ Association of Nagaland (SCAN) has opposed the implementation of the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act 2023 in the state, pointing out that its provisions were not suitable for the state.
In a statement, SCAN president Dr Khanlo Magh and general secretary Dr R Rose asserted that land in Nagaland belonged to Naga people since time immemorial and every Naga village had its own sovereign authority over its land.
They cautioned that implementation of the Act would leave Naga lands without any protection from arbitrary decisions of the Central Government as it excluded obtaining prior consent from village councils and local district authorities.
Further, SCAN felt that it was a matter of serious concern for the state to observe some of the exemption in the amended Act, particularly the 100-km exemption for environmental clearance for forests along the international borders to be used for construction of strategic linear projects of national importance and those concerning national security.
Moreover, SCAN said there was a growing concern that the Act would speed up the destruction of forests in the rich and bio diverse regions of the country. “Land is a vital asset to the Nagas and lawmakers in New Delhi making arbitrary laws for the Nagas without our knowledge or consent and without taking into account the distinctive nature of land ownership system in Nagaland is unacceptable,” SCAN asserted.
Since the Act undermined the unique land ownership system in Nagaland, SCAN mentioned that every right-thinking Naga should resist any attempt to undermine their land rights.
SCAN leaders also opposed the palm oil plantation in Nagaland to protect and preserve the state’s rich biodiverse forests because it had been witnessed that palm oil had been and continued to be the major driver of deforestation in some of the world’s most biodiverse forests.