Buying land to return it to nature

[Barun]

Hello,
Here is an interesting idea being tried in India.

Some government, non-government bodies, individuals are trying to buy
land from farmers, and give it to the forest department for
maintaining the natural environment, writes Ananda Banerjee in the
Mint, on 29 April 2013.

But the question is given the poor track record of the forest
department in conserving forest and wildlife, whether such land
transfers will help improve the performance of the department. Also,
it is worth asking, if instead of transferring land to the government,
the land owners could be persuaded to practice conservation, and
compensated for any loss of income. Then the land owners might find it
attractive to practice conservation. Alternatively, the organisations
buying land from farmers, could themselves adopt best conservation
practices, which could compliment the public forest.

Following is the link to the article. Would like to hear your
thoughts.

Incidentally, I will be in Washington DC, next week, and am
participating in a discussion at Heritage Foundation on land and
property rights on May 7, at noon. In case any one on this list are in
DC area, it would be really nice to meet and share ideas.

Thanks,
Barun
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Buying land to return it to nature

Given the relentless pace at which wildlife habitat is being devoured
by the march of development, some government agencies, non-
governmental organizations and individuals have been trying to push
back—by buying land and letting nature reclaim it.
The past decade has seen a conscious effort to secure wildlife
habitats to protect forests.
A recent exercise involved the purchase of 26 acres along the
Thirunelli-Kudrakote wildlife corridor in the Wayanad district of
Kerala that comes under the watch of the non-profit Wildlife Trust of
India (WTI). In the past few months, camera traps have recorded three
tigers crossing the corridor.

Please read the complete article here.
http://tinyurl.com/bllpghw