Kalpavriksh Intro to the NGO

1. KalpavrikshIntro to the NGO

2. Kalpavriksh • “Kalpavriksh believes that a country can develop meaningfully • only when ecological sustainability and social equity are guaranteed, • and a sense of respect for, and oneness with nature • and fellow humans is achieved.” • Established in 1979. • They operate mostly out of Pune and Delhi. • They work in the following regions: Andamans, Pune, Nagaland, • NE India, Uttar Kannada, Laddakh, Delhi. • Some of the issues worked on in these areas: NE dams & environmental impact, conflict between army and villagers in Nagaland, hunting and wildlife depletion, tsunami-related work in the Andamans, urban greening in Pune and Delhi.

3. Kalpavriksh • Campaigns (2005-06) for Environmental Justice in India • Critiques and input on various environmental laws and policies. • Campaign on community control over biodiversity. • The open letter campaign. • Postcard campaign against the National Environment Policy. • MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forests) Suno and Chalo!

4. Kalpavriksh • Focus Areas • Biodiversity • Community Conservation • Environment and Development • Eco-sensitive Alternatives • Education

5. Kalpavriksh: Project 2010 “Environmental Regulation in the era of Globalization”

6. MOTIVATION • Have the Coastal Regulation Zone notification, the Forest Conservation Act • and the Biological Diversity Act achieved what they set out to do? • (a) Assess through analysis of numbers and statistics • (b) Achieve a more political understanding of the construction of conservation/ protection laws and how they are deployed to undermine truly decentralized environmental decision making.

7. PROPOSED WORK There is a growing need felt amongst the environment movements and civil society groups for the need to recover the present legal framework from a system based on exchange and compensation. An initial step would be to deconstruct the basis on which regulatory regimes stand and operate in today’s globalized world. It is also important to systematically analyze regulatory regimes for agricultural and industrial development and their consequences for the environment. At the same time it is important to continually engage with and disseminate the evidence gathered to existing networks and action groups. The next step is to articulate the possibilities of convergence and bring together various actors, particularly activists, academicians and peoples movements to find ways by which the legal framework for protection of the environment can be strengthened and moved away from the system of exchange and compensation. The demand for a “space” within existing legal regimes has been there for decades, which groups and local communities have operated within. The gradual move now to be made is to elaborate the spirit of this space so that laws and policies for sectors influencing the environment respect multiple models of governance and decision making.

8. PROPOSED OUTPUT Popular and Academic writings putting together the analyses of these regulatory regimes in the fields of environment protection, pollution management, wildlife and forest conservation as they have operated in the contemporary Indian context. Fresh Research and related briefing notes on new institutional structures that are being proposed in India's regulatory and compensatory environment. Eg. Compensatory Aforestation Planning and Management Authority (CAMPA) funds and Net Present Value in the forestry sector; National Environment Protection Authority (NEPA), Green Tribunal Bill in the environment clearance sector which is recently proposed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Networking with and Learning from work on regulatory regimes in other conventional sectors like Electricity, Telecom. This is with a view to understand the functioning and its relevance for the environmental sector. Sharing of these findings and ongoing discussions (with illustrations and examples) with academics, activists, environment planners, lawyers and Government of India. Some of the data and evidence is already in place, some others are being and will be developed.

9. PROPOSED BUDGET (FOR 12 MONTHS)

10. PROPOSED WORK: more details (1) We will be using tools like the Right to Information to access the background discussions and recordings on the logic behind the introduction of the Compensatory Afforestation Authority (CAMPA) as well as the proposed National Environment Protection Authority (NEPA). These include the minutes of the meeting within the MoEF wherein these discussions took place and decisions arrived at. It will also include the reports of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science, Technology and Environment. (2) Court orders and proceedings will also be accessed through the Supreme Court website archives. This is with specific reference to the orders and judgements related to the CAMPA and Net Present Value for the diversion of forest land.

11. PROPOSED WORK: more details (3) For the last 2 years we have been collecting information on the number of clearances that have been granted under the EIA notification and Forest Conservation Act. Some of this was also used for the compliance and monitoring study that AID Austin had supported. However, these trends have to be tracked on an regular basis, including digging deeper into decisions behind some specific projects. These can also include the case studies which fed into the compliance study where any further expansion. This is critical as now the MoEF has put together a committee to look into the issues of monitoring and compliance. As the committee is looking into how that is resolved, the MoEF is clearing over 100 projects a month with the same problematic logic. So the regulatory model is feeding into the demands of project authorities without issues of monitoring and compliance having been resolved.

12. PROPOSED WORK: more details (4) Over the course of one year, we would put together two comprehensive and analytical notes on the CAMPA and the proposed NEPA, which can then be linked with ongoing advocacy efforts amongst various networks and campaigns. The idea is also to put together a chronological pattern through which these new institutions came into being. This we feel is important as there is very little information about the background amongst the civil society organization. Understanding the logic is critical to unfold the bias of these regulatory bodies. We also hope to convert part of these notes into papers/articles for consideration of Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), which has a critical readership. (5) On a regular basis the findings on the environment/forest clearances, CAMPA and NEPA and related processes will be converted into popular articles. We commit to at least 5 analytical articles during the course of the year through the web and print media. Whenever possible, any critical findings will also be shared with the media persons so that there is a widespread circulation.

13. PROPOSED WORK: more details We usually participate in network meetings and discussions. Although it cannot be predicted in numbers, we assure to take the findings to critical spaces, where the insights can be debated to understand and see the future of environment regulations better. There will be a team of people from Kalpavriksh which will be working on the data collection and analysis. However, the AID Austin support would be able to cover the honorarium and expenses of one person. There is another project on RTI which AID Bay Area is supporting which will link up for the support for the RTI data collection and preliminary analysis.

14. Vote: February 13, 2010 AID Austin approves Rs 2,99,200 for Kaplavriksh Project: Environmental Regulation in the era of GlobalizationYes: 8No: 0Abstain: 0No participation: 1The vote is passed.