2. In this Ordinance, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-

(1) “Appellate Committee” means a committee the procedure of which shall be as prescribed, appointed by the Government in respect of a notified area to hear appeal under this Ordinance consisting of three members of whom the Chairman shall be a Revenue Officer not below the rank of a Collector, one member shall be a Forest Officer not below the rank of a Deputy Conservator of Forests and the other member shall be an owner of a private forest who shall be selected in the prescribed manner from amongst the owners of private forests in such notified area;

(2) “cattle” includes elephants, camels, buffaloes, horses, mares, geldings, ponies, colts, fillies, mules, asses, pigs, rams, ewes, sheep, lambs, goats and kids;

(3) “conservation” used in reference to any forest land or waste land relates to such measures as are necessary in the opinion of the Regional Forest Officer for the prevention and remedying of deterioration of soil and its vegetative cover caused or likely to be caused through erosion, land-slide, flood, desiccation, burning, grazing, digging or removal of earth or through any other deteriorating agency and includes measures for improvement through protection, afforestation or any other means;

(4) “Controlled forest” means a private forest, not being vested forest in respect of which sections 2 to 63 of this Ordinance in whole or in part, have come into force;

¹[(5) “forest” includes any land recorded as forest in a record-of-rights prepared under Chapter IV of the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950 (E.B. Act XXVIII of 1951) or such other land containing tree growth as may by notification be declared as forest by the Government;]

(6) “forest-offence” means an offence punishable under this Ordinance or under any rule made thereunder;

(7) “Forest Officer” means any person whom the Government or any officer empowered by the Government in this behalf, may appoint to carry out all or any of the purposes of this Ordinance or to do anything required by this Ordinance or any rule made thereunder to be done by a Forest Officer;

(8) “forest-produce” includes-

(a) the following whether found in, or brought from a forest or not, that is to say,-

(i) timber, charcoal, caoutchouc, catechu, wood-oil, resin, natural varnish, bark, lac, mahua flowers, mahua seeds, kuth and myrabolans, and

(ii) wild animals and skins, tusks, horns, bones, silks, cocoons, honey and wax, and all other parts or produce of animals, and

(b) the following when found in, or brought from a forest, that is to say,-

(i) trees and leaves, flowers and fruits, and all other parts, or produce not hereinbefore mentioned, of trees,

(ii) plants, not being trees (including grass, creepers, reeds and moss), and all parts or produce of such plants,

(iii) surface soil and rock (excluding salt rock and mineral rock), and

(iv) fish, tortoise, oysters, shells, sponge, conch, all crustacea and mollusca and all parts of produce of such fauna;

(9) “Forest Settlement Officer” means an officer who shall ordinarily be a Revenue Officer, appointed by the Government to perform the functions of a Forest Settlement Officer under this Ordinance, and includes a Board, the procedure of which shall be as prescribed, appointed by the Government to perform such functions, consisting of not more than three officers of whom at least two shall be Revenue Officers;

(10) “notification” means a notification published in the official Gazette;

(11) “notified area” means an area specified in a notification issued under sub-section (1) of section 3;

(12) “owner” includes any mortgagee in possession, lessee, common manager, receiver appointed by a competent Court and any person holding any property in trust and also includes a Court of Wards in respect of property under the superintendence or charge of such Court;

(13) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Ordinance;

(14) “private forest” means a forest which is not the property of the Government or over which the Government has no proprietory right;

(15) “Regional Forest Officer” means a Forest Officer appointed as such by a notification for a notified area;

(16) “river” includes any stream, canal, creek or other channel, natural or artificial;

(17) “timber” includes trees when they have fallen or have been felled, and all wood whether cut up or fashioned or hallowed out for any purpose or not;

(18) 'tree' includes palms, bamboos, stumps, brushwood, canes, grasses, reeds, shrubs, herbs, etc.;

(19) “vested forest” means a forest of which the control has been vested in a Regional Forest Officer by a notification under sub-section (2) of section 6 or under section 7 or under section 11 and includes any forest deemed to be or managed as, a vested forest under this Ordinance;

(20) “waste-land” means any waste-land which is not the property of the Government or over which the Government has no proprietary right;

(21) “working plan” means a written plan prepared in the prescribed manner for the management and treatment of a forest or waste land; and

(22) “year” means a financial year.