PANAJI
The State government is set to notify an additional 41.53 sq km of land as private forest, following the acceptance of 13 part final reports submitted by the Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF)-led review committee. The committee was constituted to reassess private forest areas identified earlier by the Thomas and Araujo Committees, as well as the Sawant and Karapurkar committees between 2012 and 2018. A senior Forest Department official said the government has already accepted the 13 part final reports, which together identify around 41 sq km of additional private forest. “The notification with regard to the same would be issued shortly,” the official said. The CCF-led panel has so far disposed of 3,215 survey numbers out of 3,349 provisionally identified by the North Goa and South Goa Forest Division committees, popularly known as the Thomas and Araujo Committees. Around 63 survey numbers are still under review.
The review is being carried out in phases through “Part Final Reports” submitted periodically by the committee.
Under the State’s criteria, land qualifies as private forest if it is contiguous to government forest land or, in the case of isolated patches, has a minimum extent of five hectares. Among the reports submitted so far, the 11th Part Final Report identified 8.57 sq km spread across 198 survey numbers, while the 10th report identified 8.93 sq km across 104 survey holdings. The 12th and 13th reports together proposed around 4 sq km for inclusion as private forest.
The department said nearly 3,000 survey holdings have been found non-qualifying for private forest status during the review process so far.
In 2024, the government had, in compliance with directions of the National Green Tribunal, issued two notifications declaring 45.5 sq km and 46.1 sq km, respectively, as private forest.
