The Forest Rights Act and the 2023 Amendment to the Forest Conservation Act

The 2023 Amendment to the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) has largely been criticised for the loss of forest cover it will cause through diversion of forest land for infrastructure, public utility, and defence requirements. The Amendment makes no reference to the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and its critiques point only to its undermining of the latter. A closer examination of the Amendment from the perspective of the FRA suggests that the Act can not only continue to be used to counter the diversion of forest land, but also that popular mobilisation around it may be the only way to protect both forests and forest-dwellers.