Tamil Nadu government decides not to extend Rosewood Conservation Act

The Hindu

a day ago

Tamil Nadu will no longer have specific legislation to regulate rosewood exploitation, as the State government has decided not to renew the Tamil Nadu Rosewood Trees (Conservation) Act, 1994, allowing the legislation to lapse after its extended term ended in February 2025.
A recent Government Order (G.O.) issued by Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, said the legislation was enacted in 1995 to protect Dalbergia latifolia, commonly known as rosewood — a rare and valuable tree species whose numbers were declining due to illegal felling and trade. Initially passed for 15 years, the legislation was renewed in 2010 for another 15 years.
However, the government has decided that continuing the Act is no longer necessary. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force) noted that prolonged restrictions on felling rosewood trees on patta lands have discouraged farmers from cultivating the species, despite its high market value. 'If the restrictions are lifted, farmers will be greatly benefited by getting competitive and remunerative prices for the rosewood trees grown on their patta lands. This will motivate farmers to take up planting of rosewood trees in large numbers on their patta lands,' the G.O. noted.
The Tamil Nadu government is currently pursuing the objective of bringing 33% of its total land area under green cover, in line with the National Forest Policy. According to the G.O., incentivising rosewood cultivation on private lands aligns with this goal.
Srinivas R. Reddy, PCCF (Head of Forest Force), said existing environmental laws, such as the Tamil Nadu Preservation of Private Forests Act, 1949, and the Tamil Nadu Hill Areas (Preservation of Trees) Act, 1955, were sufficient to regulate the removal of rosewood from areas outside forest limits.
Mr. Reddy stated that a separate rosewood-specific Act was no longer relevant or required, and that the legislation had proven counterproductive by preventing farmers from cultivating rosewood trees.
Experts, however, say the Tamil Nadu Preservation of Private Forests Act, 1949 and the Tamil Nadu Hill Areas (Preservation of Trees) Act, 1955 are not designed to address the conservation of individual species, like rosewood, in a targeted manner and the Acts do not offer specific incentives to private landowners to conserve rosewood, unlike the Rosewood Conservation Act, which explicitly regulated and penalised rosewood exploitation.
Ecologist Naveen Babu noted the species faced significant exploitation during both the colonial and post-colonial periods, and cautioned that repealing the specific Act could have adverse consequences.
Asked whether a mapping of rosewood trees on private lands had been carried out, the PCCF responded in the negative, stating the species is found primarily in estate areas within the Western Ghats, with some presence in forested regions of the Eastern Ghats.
Notably, Dalbergia latifolia is listed as a 'vulnerable' species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species and in Appendix II of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) list.
While the G.O. states farmers will benefit from cultivating rosewood, experts say that these trees take around 30 years to reach a substantial size. D. Narasimhan, former professor of botany at Madras Christian College, said that rosewood is a slow-growing tree that typically takes around 30 years to reach harvestable size, but it commands a high market value due to its quality and demand.
Moreover, mature rosewood trees are important genetic resources for plant breeding, and their continued depletion could seriously impact the species' gene pool. As large trees have already been heavily harvested for commercial use and are now rare in the wild, experts stress the need for a comprehensive inventory to assess the current population, including size classes, both in forests and on private lands.