Forests in India

AJMER: The forest department has on its hands the task of finding the number of remaining Great Indian Bustard (GIB), the state bird, to chalk out a conservation plan for them. The census will be carried out on February 14 to know the area and number of birds in Ajmer, Baran and Jaisalmer divisions. At present, the bird, which is found only in the Indian subcontinent, is included in the endangered species list.

India’s overall forest cover has declined by 367 sq-kms in the past two years despite a few states actually expanding their forest areas. The net loss is mainly on account of Naxalites destroying close to 200 sq-km of forests in Andhra Pradesh, a government report said in Tuesday. The country’s total forest cover now stands at 23.81 per cent of total geographical area.

Indore: Even after getting a whopping Rs 18 lakh for the medicinal plantation under the compensatory afforestation project, the proceedings for the work has been stuck due to the budget yet to be released by the state government. Compensatory afforestation, in a laymans language is a process to assuage the wear and tear caused to the forest land due to a commercial project. In 2009, a project named 220 KV Maheswar- Pithampur- Rajgarh DCDS transmission line kicked off in December 2009.

New Delhi India’s forest cover has shrunk marginally, says the latest government report. The reduction of 367 sq km (about the size of the Ranthambore National Park) means that the total forested land in the country is 23.81% of the geographical area.

The reduction implies the ministry of environment and forests will be even more uncomfortable with industrial projects in green areas. The ‘India State of Forest Report, 2011’ shows that while 12 states registered a fall in forest and tree cover, 15 states — led by Punjab – showed an increase.

NEW DELHI, Feb 7 – The eight States of the Northeastern region (NER) have witnessed loss of green cover to the extent of 549 square km. Assam has lost 19 square km of forest cover. Painting a dismal picture of the forest cover in the North East, the India State of Forest Report 2011 released on Tuesday by Union Environment and Forest Secretary Dr P Chatterjee said the main reasons for the decrease is attributed to the biotic pressure and shifting cultivation in the region.

India's forest cover shrank by 367sq km with the maximum 80 per cent loss recorded in Andhra Pradesh mainly due to Naxals felling trees in Warangal and Khammam districts, according to a new survey released on Tuesday.

Forest and tree cover of the country as per the biennial assessment report released by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) is 78.29 million hectares, which is 23.81 per cent of the geographical area. This includes 2.76 per cent tree cover.

This new biennial assessment report on India’s forest resources published by Forest Survey of India provides special coverage to forest cover in hill districts, tribal districts and the north-east and also includes a new chapter covering detailed assessment of bamboo resources.

Main Topic: 

• Forests

thesaurus: 

• Forests
• India
• Forest Resources
• Trees
• Bamboo
• Mangroves
• Carbon Sinks
• Remote Sensing

Publisher : 

• Forest Survey of India

Place of Publication: 

• Dehra Dun

Mark Content Private(Internal): External URL: http://www.fsi.org.in/sfr_2011.htmAdditional image:: Email Alert: Publication Date: 07/02/2012

The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) on Monday filed its final report on illegal mining in Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts of Karnataka recommending cancellation of 49 mining leases for “flagrant” violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act and other laws. The CEC has told the court that “these (49) leases should be directed to be cancelled on account of being found to be involved in substantially illegal mining”. PTI

New Delhi: Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Monday said, “I shall reject any project recommended for clearing without adhering to the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and the ministry’s order.” This was in response to a TOI story on the Forest Advisory Committee violating ministry directive while clearing projects.

SHILLONG: A joint investigation committee (JIC) comprising State Chief Conservator of Forest and Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest from the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment, Regional Office has been constituted to relook into the alleged random exploitation of forest land by the cement industries in Jaintia Hills district.

The constitution of the JIC came even after the State constituted high level committee’s (HLC) findings submitted in November 2011 acknowledged that the cement industries have intruded into the forest land.

This research seeks to assess how actors bring the social dimension into REDD+ negotiating processes at the global level. The underlying idea driving the analysis in this paper is that power relations in policy processes associated to the green economy need to be taken into account. Thus, the paper analyses power from a historical, structural and relational point of view at the different stages of global REDD+ development processes. Green economy has generally focused on the energy sector, but interest in the role of forests in emissions reduction and in forest carbon markets is growing.

thesaurus: 

• REDD
• Sustainable Development
• Economy
• Forests
• Environment
• Economic Development
• Climate Change
• Climate Mitigation
• Developing Countries

Publisher : 

• United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)

Place of Publication: 

• Geneva

Author: 

• Rocío Hiraldo
• Thomas Tanner

Attachment(s):  Hiraldo-Tanner3.pdfMark Content Private(Internal): Email Alert: 23Publication Date: 01/12/2011

Forest ecosystems assume a significant role in climate change mitigation by the virtue of being one of the largest terrestrial carbon sinks. In India, Sikkim is one of the most pro-active states in leading the implementation of conservation policies and is recognised as a key conservation hub. Sikkim adopted a grazing exclusion policy in 1998 owing to the escalating anthropogenic pressure on the forest ecosystems and their consequent rapid degradation. This provided a chance for the revival of the health of the forest ecosystems.

Main Topic: 

• Climate Change

thesaurus: 

• Climate Change
• Climate Mitigation
• Sikkim
• Forests
• Ecosystems
• Carbon Sinks
• West Sikkim
• Carbon Dioxide
• Sanctuaries

Publisher : 

• Centre for Development Finance

Author: 

• Shweta Bhagwat
• Manasi Diwan
• Vivek V.

Attachment(s):  Grazing-exclusion-policy-through-a-climate-change-mitigation-lens.pdfMark Content Private(Internal): Email Alert: 21Publication Date: 01/11/2011

The overall environmental performance is improving in Sri Lanka and it has been ranked as a moderate performer, according to the 2012 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) released during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week.

Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has been honoured with the International Green Globe Foundation Award for outstanding achievement in environment sector, official sources said today.

The award was jointly given by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Vizcraft International, they said.

The award was given during Delhi Sustainable Development Summit-2012 held in New Delhi recently.

Madhya Pradesh Forest department has been bestowed with the international Green Globe Foundation Award for outstanding achievement in environment sector by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Vizcraft International. The award was given away during Delhi Sustainable Development Summit-2012 at New Delhi. The award was received by Chief Conservator of Forests Anil Upadhyay posted in Delhi. In total, awards in eight categories were given away at the function.

Surat: Of the 145 endangered bird species in India, Gujarat is home to at least 35 of them. Thus it is important that researchers and ornithologists and people from all walks of life join hands in bird conservation, speakers said at a recently held seminar in Navsari on ‘Birds of Gujarat: Present status and future scenario’.

NEW DELHI: Senior forest officials are slated to meet environment and forests minister Jayanthi Natarajan to yet again raise complaints against the Forest Rights Act. Even as they are set to raise issues on implementation of the Act, the Forest Advisory Committee, stacked with senior forest officials and three non-government experts on board, has given the nod to several projects without adhering to the ministry's directive that keeps the clearance process in alignment with the Act.

After a nine-month survey and demarcation of mining areas in three mineral-rich districts of Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur; the Supreme Court-constituted Central Empowered Committee (CEC) investigating illegal mining in the state, is likely to submit its final report to the apex court on Monday.

The final report is believed to contain significant recommendations that would decide the future of once-powerful iron ore mining lobby in the state. One of the most important suggestions is auctioning of mining leases that had been recommended for cancellation by CEC for illegalities.

This assessment of forest tenure systems in South Asia focuses on current state of tenure and the relationship between tenure security and sustainable forest management and livelihood opportunities.

Main Topic: 

• Forests

thesaurus: 

• Forests
• Land Tenure
• South Asia
• Forest Resources
• Forest Management
• Governance
• Land Ownership
• Forest Policy
• Chipko Movement
• Land Reforms

Publisher : 

• HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation

Author: 

• Ganga Ram Dahal
• Krishna Adhikari

Place of Publication: 

• Nepal

Attachment(s):  South Asia Forest Tenure Assessment.pdfMark Content Private(Internal): Additional image:: Email Alert: 42Publication Date: 01/01/2012