Why in news?
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change released Model Rules 2025 for felling trees in agricultural lands to simplify regulations and encourage agroforestry.
Main features
- Digital registration: Farmers must register plantations, felling and timber transport on the National Timber Management System (NTMS) portal to ensure transparency and traceability.
- Simplified procedures: For up to 10 trees, uploading geotagged photographs triggers an automatic no‑objection certificate. For more than 10, farmers submit an online application followed by field verification.
- State‑level committees: Each state will create an oversight committee to handle promotion, regulation and monitoring of tree felling and timber movement.
- Third‑party verification: Accredited agencies may conduct field assessments to reduce bureaucracy and speed up approvals.
- Linking with industries: The rules connect farmers to wood‑based industries, promoting organised trade and better prices; they also emphasize climate resilience, soil conservation and water recharge.
Issues & significance
- Implementation challenges: Delays in building the digital portal, low digital literacy among farmers and uneven adoption across states may hinder effectiveness; there is also concern about exploitation by timber lobbies.
- Significance: A streamlined framework reduces legal hurdles, encourages tree cultivation on farms, improves domestic timber supply, supports climate action and boosts rural incomes.
Well‑implemented rules can make agroforestry lucrative while ensuring sustainable management of tree resources.