The protests in Mumbai against tree felling in the Aarey forest put the focus on tree felling across the country. As per the available data, governments permitted felling of more than 1 crore trees between 2014 & 2019 under the Forest Conservation Act. Though data is not available, many more trees would have been cut under various state laws. Last year, there were intense protests in Mumbai when the Maharashtra government permitted Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation to clear trees in Aarey forest for the construction of metro railcar shed. Ultimately, the Supreme Court had to intervene and stayed the felling of trees. This particular incident put the focus tree felling and the trends across the country. As per data shared by the government in the Lok Sabha, between 2016 and 2019, permission was sought for felling more than 76 lakh trees under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA). Telangana topped this list with permissions for felling 12.12 lakh trees in these 3 years. Another set of data shared by the government indicates that permission was sought for felling more than 1 crore trees between 2014 & 2019. However, it has to be noted that these are only numbers where the permission was sought under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA). Data for trees felled under various state laws are not maintained centrally though many more trees would have been felled under various state laws. Who approves tree felling? The approval for tree felling depends on the type of area (place/land)and also the type of trees. For any diversion of forest land to non-forestactivities which involves tree cutting, the approvals are granted as per theprovisions laid down in the Forest Conservation Act(FCA). In the case of tree cutting in non-forest & private lands, theprocess laid down in relevant state laws is to be followed. Some examples ofstate laws are Maharashtra Felling of Trees (Regulation) Act,1964, Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, Telangana Water, Land and Trees Act (WALTA), The Tamil Nadu Preservation of Private Forest act. FCA mandates approval from government for forest clearance Under the Forest (Conservation) Act, it is mandatory to get clearance from the government before diverting forest land for non-forest purpose. For this, the project proposal has to be sent to the nodal officer of state government as per Forest Conservation Rules of 2003 following which examination of the proposal takes place at various levels. The approval process for trees in non-forest areas varies based on tree type In the case ofnon-forests and other private lands, the process laid down in the relevantstate law is followed. In most state laws, trees are categorized into exempt & non-exempt categories. The process is differently defined for both thesecategories. In most stateslike Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana the application process for felling of trees has been simplified following theintroduction of the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) rankings. In the case of Telangana, those who want to fell trees in Patta land or government assigned land for the industry have to submit an online application with details related to land, its ownership, tree species, number of trees and dimensions along with required documents. A list of exempted and non-exempted species of trees based on its value is maintained by the department. In the case of exempted trees, the applicant can pay the fee and then go ahead with felling, which is called the self-certification process. The procedure for non-exempted trees is more elaborate as discussed below. In the case of non-exempted trees, the application has to be filed along with the relevant annexures. The application goes to the Forest Divisional Officer. It is then forwarded to Forest Range Officer who, along with Forest Section Officer inspects the site. The DFO/designated officer then issues notice asking the applicant to pay a security deposit as an assurance of replanting the area. The process along with timelines at each stage is defined. The amount to be paid per tree also varies based on the category in which the tree falls. Data shared in the Lok Sabha only pertains to FCA The data shared in the Lok Sabha recently onlypertains to permission sought for removal of trees (tree felling) under theFCA. Permissions sought for tree felling as per the state laws could be manymore and such data is not maintained centrally. More than 76 lakh trees were felled between 2016-17 & 2018-19 under provisions of FCA In the last threeyears, between 2016-17 & 2018-19, more than 76.72 lakh trees were cut underthe Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. About 40% of these permissions were given in2018-19 alone.