Thread by @BharatVarma3

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#Environment

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The Life and Death of a Tree.

Environmental Policy Note.

1. Ownership of Trees.

Trees are OUR shared heritage.
Living Treasures of our Environment.

Trees should NOT be allowed to be destroyed without going through an exhaustive consultation process that includes full delibration and consent from ALL the stakeholders concerned.

The Stakeholders.

2. The following stakeholders will be involved.

a) General public - comprising 5 student representatives each from schools and colleges and 10 people who will be local planners or architects or environmental/sustainability experts.

(These numbers are indicative, both numbers and voting weightage will be worked out systematically).

At least half the panel MUST comprise women.

b) Govt Agency responsible for the land.

c) Company/Organization demanding the use of the land.

d) Representatives from the Media.

e) Tech support for recording, transcribing and documenting the meetings.

3. Complete transparency is MANDATORY.

FULL details of the project planning including reasons for Site selection (as well as those for rejection of alternate sites considered) must be put up for public viewing, online as well as offline.

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Details must also contain public feedback and commentary. Standardized formats to be used for this.

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Consultations must be broadcast on at least one regional news channel for a minimum duration of half an hour of direct footage (not talk show debates about it) in a manner that covers key statements of ALL stakeholders.

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General public must be notified of public consultations well in time with dates published for a week in 5 different newspapers

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Appeal

4. There will be a process of appeal in case a decision is taken to cut trees.

This is based on similar grounds as the death penalty in the India.

"Rarest of the rare case", with provision for appeal right till the end. This IS a death sentence for a tree.

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MORATORIUM ON TREE CUTTING

There will be a COMPLETE MORATORIUM ON ANY TREE FELLING involving more than TEN trees until the modalities for the appeal process are worked out.

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5. Compensation - If Tree felling is unavoidable, two kinds of compensation are mandatory. One is Compensatory Afforestation (full details of which HAVE to be displayed prominently at the site of the felling, and updated weekly for a minimum period of ten years).

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The second compensation is a price on each Tree that is destroyed. Price of each tree should not be less than Rs one lakh per year of the tree's age. The amount will be paid into an environmental account that will operate locally (modalities to be decided).

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The objective of the compensation is to deter casual deforestation in the guise of development, with the deterrent increasing with the density, quality and age of the forest.
(The compensation will be in addition to the actual value realized from the sale of the tree)

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6. Land Use - In order to prevent any opportunistic exploitation and misuse of land by the simple expedient of "Change of Land Use", any such change shall only happen after it clears the rigorous process outlined above.

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The reclassification of the Land ("Change of Land Use") SHALL BE RESTRICTED SOLELY TO THE SPECIFIC PROJECT IN QUESTION and will NOT be applicable to the remaining part of the area.

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Thank you.

Inputs regarding this subject are welcome.

Would appreciate details such as links and ideas and suggestions to maximize the retention of our existing trees.
(Acronyms explained would be good)

Development should NOT be antagonistic to our Environment.

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