The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has released the ‘Model Rules for Felling of Trees in Agricultural Lands’ to help States and Union Territories ease procedural burdens on farmers engaging in agroforestry. The new framework is designed to simplify regulations around registering agroforestry plantations, felling trees, and transporting timber, thereby supporting sustainable rural livelihoods and reducing pressure on natural forests.
The initiative seeks to provide farmers with greater flexibility and legal clarity while enhancing soil quality, water conservation, climate resilience, and biodiversity. Agroforestry is seen as a key means of increasing domestic timber production, bridging the demand-supply gap, promoting wood-based industries, and bolstering exports. The model rules aim to support ease of doing business for tree-based farming systems by encouraging wider participation from stakeholders.
To implement this, the State Level Committee established under the Wood-Based Industries (Establishment and Regulation) Guidelines, 2016 will guide state and UT authorities in relaxing harvesting and transport requirements, especially for commercially valuable species. The committee will also empanel independent verifying agencies to process farmers’ tree felling applications.
A central component of the model rules is the National Timber Management System (NTMS), a digital portal under development to host geo-tagged data of agroforestry plantations. Farmers will be required to register their lands on NTMS by uploading basic plantation details, such as land ownership, mapped location (KML file), species grown, and plantation timelines. Regular updates and geotagged photos will ensure plantation traceability. Applications for tree harvesting can be submitted online through the portal, with verifying agencies conducting field inspections. Tree felling permits for agricultural lands will be issued based on their reports. Divisional Forest Officers will monitor the performance of these agencies.
The Ministry has called upon all States and Union Territories to examine and consider adopting the model rules to foster agroforestry adoption, increase rural income, and harmonise ecological sustainability with economic development.
