文/Aruna Chandrasekhar
當全世界遭遇史上最炎熱的夏季之時，有消息稱一部改編自《奇幻森林》的新電影即將上映。但即便這則寓言故事中最複雜、最兇險的情景再現眼前，也無法與今天印度中部叢林正在發生甚至已經發生的林地退化相提並論。
While the world reels from the hottest summer in history, a fresh new movie version of The Jungle Book is in the works. But even the most intricate, sinister re-telling of the story could not mirror the situation in what’s left of Central Indian jungles today.
無論是在達沃斯論壇、七國集團會議還是聯合國，印度總理納倫德拉·莫迪抓住了每一個機會，向全世界宣講或保證印度在氣候變化和環境領域擁有領導能力，並推廣印度最貧窮者的可持續生活方式。
Whether at Davos, G7 or the United Nations, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasn’t missed an opportunity to reassure the world of India’s climate and environmental leadership and remind everyone of the sustainable lifestyles of even the country’s poorest. This year, India was the global host of World Environment Day in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme.
今年，印度與聯合國環境規劃署合作，成為世界環境日的主辦國。在《聯合國氣候變化框架公約》第二十三次締約方大會上，就2020年前的氣候行動和幫助氣候變化受害者等問題，印度與中國一道作為發展中國家的代表，與美國等傳統排放大國針鋒相對。
At COP23 in Bonn, India lobbied hard alongside China on behalf of developing countries for pre-2020 climate action and support for victims of climate change, opposite Trump and other legacy emitters.
2016 年6 月5 日，印度學生手捧樹苗，參加世界環境日的有關環保宣傳活動。
不過，當首都新德里仍處在隨處可見的空氣汙染中，印度再努力的遊說似乎也難以令人信服。權威醫學雜誌《柳葉刀》發佈的報告指出，印度空氣汙染已累積造成全國250萬人死亡。如今，印度又在另一份全球環境狀況國際報告中排名墊底。
Such diplomacy is hard to pull off when your country’s capital is reeling from a glaring air pollution crisis, with a Lancet report estimating national mortality from pollution as high as 2.5 million deaths. Now, another international report places India last in environmental performance globally.
該指數由耶魯大學、哥倫比亞大學與世界經濟論壇和歐洲委員會聯合研究中心合作編制，通過一系列不同的環境指標將180個國家排名。印度的排名從2016年的第141位下降36位。
In June 2018, India ranked 177th out of 180 countries on the Global Environment Performance Index. The index, developed by Yale and Columbia universities in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, ranks 180 countries on a series of different environmental indicators. India dropped 36 places from 141th in 2016.
印度政府認為該指數的評判方式過於主觀，批評主要針對報告的評估指標“生態系統活力”。然而，森林活力恰好準確地指出了印度的問題所在。
The Indian government has dismissed the index for subjective methodology, a chief complaint being that ecosystem vitality was used as an indicator in this edition of the rankings. However, the vitality of its forests is a key indicator of precisely where India’s problem lies.
印度政府最新的森林狀況報告聲稱，印度的森林和林木覆蓋面積為80.2088萬平方公里，佔全國總面積的24.39%。印度表示，森林覆蓋面積增加了6778平方公里，增長幅度約為1%，林木覆蓋率增加1243平方公里。
As per the Indian government’s latest State of Forests report, the total forest and tree coverage of the country is 802,088 square kilometers, which is 24.39 percent of the total geographical area of the country. It claims a net increase of 6,778 square kilometers in forest coverage, roughly one percent, and 1,243 square kilometers in tree coverage.
印度的森林覆蓋率的計算標準制定於2001年，而該方法從一開始就存在缺陷。根據印度森林調查機構的標準，只要每公頃土地的樹冠覆蓋面積達到10%以上，則無論其所有權、生物多樣性和現有使用情況，該地區都會被劃定為森林。
The methodology India uses to determine its forest coverage has been flawed from the start—the current norms date back to 2001. According to the Forest Survey of India, if tree canopy covers more than ten percent of a 1-hectare (about 2.4 acres) plot, it is considered forest, regardless of ownership, biodiversity or usage.
2018 年8 月10 日，印度西南部卡納塔克邦境內部分路段放置的警示牌，提示來往車輛“象群出沒。
這使得在乾旱的土壤上、用於商業用途的桉樹種植園甚至印度官員做瑜伽的德里羅緹公園，都和《奇幻森林》主角毛克利的後院一樣，統統被劃為森林。印度森林調查機構也承認，在調整指標後，同樣的方法也用於了溼地和草原、紅樹林溪流、高山草甸等生態系統的劃定。
This allows eucalyptus plantations grown on droughtprone soil for commercial use and Delhi’s Lodhi gardens, favored by its decision-makers and diplomats for a spot of yoga, to count as forest at the same scale as jungles. By the FSI’s own admission, this methodology discounts ecosystems ranging from wetlands and grasslands, from creeks in mangroves to alpine meadows.
因此，虛高的森林面積掩蓋了印度中心地帶為了工業項目而侵佔林地面積的驚人增長。
The inflated numbers hide an alarming rise in the diversion of forest land for industrial projects in the country’s central heartland.
過去三年裡，莫迪政府批准了1805項轉變林地用途的提案。設在德里的生態法律機構環境影響評估資源和響應中心通過跟蹤研究印度環境部相關會議發現，環境部專家小組去年對93%的涉及轉變林地用途的項目表示贊成，項目總面積達2139.94平方公里，只對6%的項目提出反對，只有1%的原有項目被推遲。
In the last three years that Narendra Modi’s government has been in power, the Indian government granted clearances to 1,805 proposals to divert forest land. According to the Delhi-based eco-legal organization EIA Resource and Response Centre that tracks the ministry’s meetings, the expert panel with the environment ministry approved 93 percent of all projects in 2017 that required forest diversion, covering 2,139.94 square kilometers, and rejected only six percent. Only one percent of all decisions were deferred.
印度中部和東部的中心地帶的奧里薩邦、馬迪亞邦、馬哈拉施特拉邦、賈欽德邦和恰蒂斯加爾邦是過去三年來林地遭佔用面積最多的地區。在這些地區，森林、礦產、當地部落、野生動物等生態資源和工業區相互重疊。這些邦作為產煤地區，當地國有礦業公司持續快速擴大產量，力爭達到每年15億噸的目標。
States that report the most diversion of forestland in the last three years—Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh—form the central and eastern heartland, where the country’s forest, mineral, tribal, wildlife and industrial maps overlap. This is coal country: State-owned mining firms have continued to expand production rapidly in a race to meet a 1.5 billion ton per year target.
不少居民飽受汙染困擾，不得不撤離家園。雪上加霜的是，村民們現在還得應付野生動物的侵擾，因為原本的大象遷徙路線已經讓位於新的鐵路、煤炭和電力走廊。
If large-scale displacement and pollution wasn’t enough, villagers now have to deal with increasing wildlife conflict, with elephant corridors disrupted by new rail, coal and power corridors.
2015年，41歲的工程師鍾吉濤在一傢俬人煤炭發電廠工作時，不幸被一頭大象踩死。僱傭了這位工程師的公司是印度最大的煤炭運輸公司之一。為了獲得該項目用地的森林砍伐許可，該公司曾否認當地有野生大象生存。居住在阿迪瓦西和達利特當地社區居民曾針對該公司提出刑事控訴，指控其強行奪取森林土地。
In 2015, 41-year-old engineer Jong Kitau who was working for a private coal power plant, was trampled to death by an elephant. The firm that hired the engineer is among India’s biggest coal transporters, and it denied the presence of elephants in the area in order to obtain a forest clearance for the project. Locals from the Adivasi and Dalit communities filed criminal complaints against the company for forcibly grabbing their forest land.
村長帕凡提·曼吉說：“將這家公司告上法庭後，我們面臨的壓力越來越大。因為我拒絕簽署無異議證明，來自該公司的騷擾就沒有停止過。”
“Since we went to court, the company has been putting more pressure on us,” alleged Pavitri Manjhi, village chief and human rights defender. “Because I refused to sign a No-Objection Certificate, harassment from the company hasn’t ceased.”
造林措施
AFFORESTATION MEASURES
據官方報道，印度表示至少目前森林消亡問題得到了控制。根據《巴黎協定》，印度設置了較高的自主減排貢獻目標，必須通過增加額外的森林覆蓋率，以實現多吸收25至30億噸二氧化碳的目標。
On paper, India claims it is at least working on its forest loss problem. It sets lofty targets as part of its Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, including a goal to create an additional carbon drop of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide through additional tree cover.
目前看來，印度不乏造林計劃，然而很多官員們也不清楚究竟哪些計劃可以採用。2008年，作為踐行其《聯合國氣候變化框架公約》承諾的一部分，印度根據《國家氣候變化行動計劃》啟動了六項任務，其中之一是“綠色印度行動”。
There appears to be no shortage of afforestation schemes, and officials are complaining about confusion over which to access. The Green India Mission is part of six missions launched in 2008 under India’s National Climate Change Action Plan as part of commitments to the UNFCCC.
“綠色印度行動”由國家清潔能源基金於2014年2月正式啟動，目標是增加500萬公頃的林地。該基金的資金來源於開採煤炭徵收的特定碳稅。該基金原本用於可再生能源和緩解氣候變化的研究和開發，後來通過實行統一的商品與服務稅，逐漸轉向覆蓋莫迪政府的重點項目，例如恆河治理項目以及地方政府承擔的公共衛生補貼項目。
The Green India Mission, formally launched in February 2014 with a goal of adding an additional five million hectares of forest land (over 12 million acres), has been seeded since its inception by the National Clean Energy Fund. The Fund is fed by a unique carbon tax on every ton of coal mined in India. Originally meant for the research and development of renewable energy and climate change mitigation, this fund, like its forests, has been steadily diverted to the Modi government’s pet projects ranging from cleaning the Ganges to sanitation subsiding damage sustained by states as a result of its Goods and Services Tax.
2017年，印度政府從清潔能源基金中撥出5700億盧比用於補貼國家稅收損失。同年，印度綠色行動預算僅為4.78億盧比，預計2018至2019年將增長至6億盧比。
In 2017, while the Indian government diverted 57,000 crores (about US$7.94 billion) from the Clean Energy Fund to subsidize the state’s taxation losses, the same financial year, the Green India Mission was allocated 47.80 crores (over US$6.5 million) with a budget estimate of 60 crores (over US$8.3 million) for 2018-19.
印度造林補償基金管理與規劃局還推出了一個60億美元的造林基金，該基金號稱是世界上最大的造林計劃。
Touted as the world’s biggest forest renewal scheme is an afforestation fund of US $6 billion managed by the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).
造林基金原本旨在填補印度的森林損失，因此要求佔用林地者支付植樹面積達到其所佔用土地的兩倍的費用。隨著基金迅速成長，問題也接踵而來。
CAMPA was meant to manage India’s forest loss by requiring diverters to pay for afforestation equal to double the land they take.
2013年，印度國家審計長髮布了一份譴責性報告，指出資金使用情況已嚴重偏離原有綠化目標，被用於為高官裝修豪華森林賓館、購買iPod、越野車等。
As the fund mushroomed, scams followed, and the country’s auditor general issued a damning report in 2013 that showed how afforestation targets were being sorely missed while funds were used to refurnish forest guest houses for VIPs, buy SUVs for senior staff and purchase iPods.
如今，礦業公司被要求為它們在鄰邦奧迪薩州林地上的非法開採買單，罰金將用於進一步增加基金預算。因鐵礦石開採而失去森林的果阿邦等地區，已經開始抱怨沒有剩餘的土地完成綠化指標，而企業卻在購買私人土地以完成造林要求。
The CAMPA fund is set to grow even further, as mining companies are fined for illegally mining forest land in the neighboring state of Odisha. States such as Goa, which lost precious forest due to mining for iron ore, are complaining of a lack of land for afforestation while companies are buying up private land for forests.
森林轉移受阻
DIVERSION RACKETS
當地居民指責地方部分大型礦業公司漠視當地林地。
Locals living next to some of the biggest mines in the country accuse companies of ignoring forests in their backyards.
“哪怕這些公司種植了其所宣稱植樹量的2%，這個煤城也會變得比喜馬拉雅山更涼爽。”阿迪瓦西族的長者蘇拉吉亞在一場環境公開聽證會上說道。這場聽證會意將卡斯蒙達東南煤田有限公司最大的露天海岸煤礦擴建四倍。
“If they’d planted even 2 percent of the trees they claim they have, this coal town would be cooler than the Himalayas,” declared Surajiya, an Adivasi elder at an environmental public hearing for the fourfold expansion of Kusmunda India’s largest open coast coal mines, South Eastern Coalfields Limited.
除了中央政府為其收購的近1000公頃的林地外，東南煤田有限公司現在正尋求佔用更多的林地。原本法律規定擬佔用其林地的煤礦公司需要向蘇拉吉亞徵求意見，然而相關法律要求卻被逐一撤銷，一系列的通知免除了原本擴張煤礦需召開環境公開聽證會的流程。
The company is now seeking to divert even more forest land than the nearly 1,000 hectares (about 2,471 acres) in its possession acquired for this purpose from the Central government. Laws requiring Surajiya be consulted before the diversion of its forests have been steadily rolled back: A series of notifications have exempted coal mines seeking to expand capacity from conducting public environmental hearings.
即使新出臺的法律試圖修改相關條款，造林補償基金管理與規劃局的控制權仍掌握在中央政府手裡。環保人士認為，如果缺乏相關制約或平衡手段，下放權力無法根治問題。他們表示，新的威脅正出自國家最新的2018年森林政策草案中，該草案將允許在造林活動中實行公私合作。與此同時，印度“林區不可侵犯”的政策的出臺（即部分指定森林地區不可採礦和佔用）迄今仍遙遙無期。
Reins of control over the CAMPA fund still rest with the central government, even as a new law seeks to change it. Activists argue that decentralization without checks and balances is not the answer. According to them, a new threat now lies in the country’s new 2018 Draft Forest Policy, which will allow for public-private partnership in afforestation activities. Meanwhile, India’s inviolate forest area policy, which is intended to protect certain zones from mining and diversion, has yet to see the light of day.
印度阿薩姆邦Kamrup Metro 地區政府正在拆除古瓦哈提附近森林中的違法定居建築。
印度阿薩姆邦Kamrup Metro 地區政府正在拆除古瓦哈提附近森林中的違法定居建築。
根據印度的《森林權利法》和《生物多樣性保護法》，印度的土著社區擁有當地種植物的發言權，但新規定否認了這一點。林地社區都在努力爭奪主動權。在蘇拉吉亞所居住的社區，一家佔用林地的煤炭合作公司現在正在競標重新造林和煤炭運輸的合同。
As per India’s Forest Rights Act and Biodiversity Conservation Act, India’s indigenous communities should have a say in plantation on their land, but new rules don’t allow for it. Communities across the belt are trying to take charge. A cooperative firm for the coal-displaced from Surajiya’s neighborhood is now bidding for contracts for reforestation and coal transport alike.
放眼全球，綠色氣候基金的董事會成員也不得不承認，以社區為基礎的植樹造林措施更有可能取得成功。“讓我們像過去幾代人一樣保護我們的森林，我們不可能做得比你們更糟糕。”阿迪瓦西族女性尼魯帕·白說道。如今印度對能源和發展的需求仍然沒有任何消退的跡象，她已經兩次因庫什蒙達煤田的擴建而被迫搬家。“當環境變得糟糕，沒有人能永遠置身事外。”
Globally, even board members of the Green Climate Fund admit that community-based afforestation measures are more likely to succeed. “Let us handle our forests like we have been for generations— we can’t possibly do a worse job than you,” urged Nirupa Bai, an Adivasi woman who has been displaced twice over for the Kusmunda mine’s expansion, as India’s appetite for energy and development continues to show no signs of abating. “Remember that no one is immune.”
不僅僅是印度農村地區，森林保護運動在印度大城市也一路高歌猛進。
But not only are rural Indians resisting—forest conservation movements are gaining momentum even in the country’s largest cities.
在孟買，一個規劃中的地鐵棚威脅著依賴於艾雷森林的阿迪瓦西社區。由於棲息地進一步縮小，當地經常有豹子闖入人類居住區。在德里，房屋開發計劃被認為是濫砍濫伐的重要誘因。隨著當地綠色法庭的介入，這一行為被制止。
In Mumbai, a proposed metro shed threatens Adivasi communities who depend on the city’s Aarey forest, also frequented by leopards that are straying into human settlements as their habitat shrinks further.
在古爾岡，由於阿拉瓦利林地未被定義為森林，正遭受著來自房地產開發商的無情威脅。面對遠比北京更為嚴峻的空氣汙染，德里居民走上街頭，號召停止砍伐森林。環保活動家布里傑什·辛格曾在印度中部的一棵樹上生活了一個月，以抗議為開採煤礦而佔用林地，“相比以往，如今每一棵樹更是無比珍貴。”
In Delhi, housing plans have been cited as reason for a spree of treecutting that stalled after intervention from the city’s principal green court. In its twin-city of Gurgaon, Aravalli forests are under constant threat from real estate developers because they haven’t yet been designated as a forest. Facing a lifethreatening air quality crisis far worse than Beijing, Delhiites have taken to the streets to fight tree loss. According to anti-pollution activist Brikesh Singh, who once lived in a tree for a month in Central India to protest the diversion of forest land for a coal mine, now “more than ever, literally every tree counts.”
本文作者Aruna Chandrasekhar是一位獨立記者和電影製作人，致力於公司責任感、土地、環境和氣候變化等交叉領域的研究。
The author is an award-winning independent journalist and filmmaker working on issues at the intersection of corporate accountability, land, environment, conflict and climate change.
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