Forest Diversion

India gained 2,66,000 hectares of forest area annually from 2010 to 2020, securing the third spot among the top 10 countries with the most significant forest area gains during this period, according to a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The report, released on Monday, said that China led the world with the maximum forest area gain of 1,937,000 hectares, followed by Australia with 4,46,000 hectares, and then India. Other countries in the top 10 include Chile, Vietnam, Turkey, the United States, France, Italy and Romania. The UN agency praised India for its efforts in restoring degraded lands and expanding agroforestry through innovative approaches. This includes the development of a new national policy aimed at better supporting agroforestry in the country. The report highlighted a significant reduction in deforestation in some countries. For example, Indonesia saw an 8.4 per cent decline in deforestation from 2021 to 2022, while Brazil's Amazon experienced

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has approved the diversion of 1,524.17 hectare of forest land for the construction of an irrigation project in Odisha's Nayagarh district, officials said on Tuesday. In a statement, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said the state government has been waiting for the approval from the Centre for the last 30 years. After the completion of the Brutanga project, irrigation facilities can be provided to 23,000 hectares of land, it said. "On the basis of the compliance report furnished by the state government... final approval of central government under Section 2 of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 is hereby granted for non-forestry use of 1524.17 hectares of forest land for construction of Brutanga irrigation project," read a letter issued by Assistant Inspector General of Forests Dheeraj Mittal on Monday. As per the conditions set by the MoEF for the approval, the legal status of the diverted forest land shall remain .

Over three lakh hectares of forest land has been diverted for non-forestry use in India over the last 15 years under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav told Lok Sabha on Monday. Government data presented in the House showed 61,318 hectares of forest land in Punjab, the maximum among all states and union territories, has been diverted for non-forestry purposes since 2008-09. At present, Punjab has a total forest area of 1,84,700 hectares. Madhya Pradesh saw 40,627 hectares of forest land being diverted for non-forestry purposes, followed by Odisha at 28,320 hectares, Telangana at 19,419 hectares and Gujarat at 16,070 hectares. Jharkhand (15,691 hectares), Chhattisgarh (15,082 hectares), Uttarakhand (14,141 hectares), Maharashtra (13,297 hectares), Rajasthan (12,877 hectares), Arunachal Pradesh (12,778 hectares) and Andhra Pradesh (11,093 hectares) also witnessed significant forest area diversion. The data showed that the major purposes fo

The West Bengal government has drafted an action plan with the help of Dutch experts to tackle floods, prevent embankment damage and decrease salinity level in Sunderbans and in the coastal areas. Principal Secretary of Irrigation and Waterways department Prabhat Kumar Mishra told PTI that the department had signed the letter of intent (LoI) with the Netherlands government in the sixth edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit in April last year for technical assistance in delta management and development of the Sunderbans and coastal areas of Digha. "An action plan has been formulated and pilot project already taken off near Mousumi islands in South 24 Parganas district to strengthen embankments and the Dutch team - consisting of experts - has made three-four visits to the delta areas of south Bengal to take forward the work," he said. Mishra said various waterways, including blocked water canals and river channels, crisscrossing parts of south Bengal, had been connected with .

Experts tell us that the world needs a stronger framework, which compels countries to abide by it, and to keep a check on biopiracy issues

There are no guidelines for what kinds of forests should be nurtured on land taken up for compensatory afforestation

PM Modi on many occasions in 2019 announced plans to rid the country of single-use plastic by 2022

The Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 prohibits the use of any forest land for non-forest activities

Environment ministry had cleared diversion of forest land for Posco plant, which JSW wanted to take up after the South Korean firm opted out