Forest Policy

Several experts have claimed that the latest government data on India's forests is "inflated" as it includes bamboo plantations, coconut groves, and orchards among others as part of the forest cover. The 'India State of Forests Report 2023' released on Saturday, after a delay of almost a year, said India's total forest and tree cover has increased by 1,445 sq km since 2021, reaching 25.17 per cent of the total geographical area in 2023. However, the forest cover grew by just 156 sq km and most of the gain (149 sq km) occurred outside the Recorded Forest Area (RFA), which refers to areas designated as forests in government records. The overall results could have been stronger, especially since the government included bamboo and smaller trees (5-10 cm diameter at breast height) in the tree cover estimates for ISFR 2023. The assessment also expanded to 751 districts, up from 636 in 2021. Experts including Kerala's former principal chief conservator of forests Prakriti Srivastava, ...

Odisha has ranked second in the country for maximum increase in green cover inside recorded forest area, according to the latest India State of Forest Report-2023. Published biennially by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) since 1987, the report, which was released by Union forest minister Bhupender Yadav on Saturday, provides a detailed assessment of the nation's forest and tree resources. According to the report, Odisha reported an increase of 118.17 sq km of forest inside the recorded forest area, while Mizoram was at the top position with an increase of 192.92 sq km. Karnataka recorded an increase of 93.14 sq km of forest, West Bengal (64.79 sq km), and neighbouring Jharkhand's growth was 52.72 sq km. In combined forest and tree cover, the state recorded a growth of 558.57 sq km and secured third position in the country. Chhattisgarh topped the list with an increase of 684 sq km, followed by Uttar Pradesh (559.19 sq km). Rajasthan was in fourth position with a 394 sq km rise, th

Forest loss in Brazil's Amazon dropped by 30.6% compared to the previous year, officials said Wednesday, the lowest level of destruction in nine years. In a 12-month span, the Amazon rainforest lost 6,288 square kilometers (2,428 square miles), roughly the size of the U.S. state of Delaware. The results, announced in Brazils presidential palace, sharply contrast with President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva's predecessor, far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, who prioritized agribusiness expansion over forest protection and weakened environmental agencies. Deforestation hit a 15-year high during his term. Deforestation in Brazil's vast savannah, known as the Cerrado, decreased by 25.7%, the first decline in five years. The area destroyed reached 8,174 square kilometers (3,156 square miles). Located in central Brazil, it is the world's most biodiverse savannah but has fewer legal protections than the Amazon. Despite the success in curbing Amazon deforestation, Lula's government has been ...

Goa Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane on Friday said his department will register first information reports (FIRs) against persons violating the Preservation of Trees Act. People take permission from the deputy conservators of forest from the North and South Goa divisions to fell trees citing some requirements, but end up violating the Preservation of Trees Act, the minister told PTI. "Once they get permission, people go completely against the rules," he said. Rane said directions have been issued to the principal chief conservator of Forest to register FIRs against violators, and the department will come down heavily on them. Rane, who heads the Town and Country Planning (TCP) department, said action will be taken against people involved in illegal landfilling. Several cases of illegal landfilling have been brought to the government's notice, and the department is probing them, he said. The minister said that Bicholim MLA Chandrakant Shetye had recently filed a complaint against th

The mandated percentage of earnings that goes as ABS ranges from 0.1 to 0.5 per cent of sales, depending on the company's revenue, according to AYUSH industry estimates

The Centre can speed up the granting of exploration permits for oil and gas resources by easing seismic surveys in forest lands

Reintroducing large carnivorous animals to a new habitat is extremely complex and a risky endeavour

Odisha, one of Indias most natural calamity-prone states, has diverted 62,016 hectares of forest land and 19.50 lakh trees have been cut down for non-forestry purposes till 2022

Congress MP Manish Tewari wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday over the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, being sent to a joint committee and demanded that it be examined by the standing committee. Tewari's letter to Birla comes a day after senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh lodged a protest with Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar over the bill being sent to a joint committee and demanded that it be examined by the standing committee, headed by Ramesh. Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav introduced the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Bill was then sent to a joint committee of both the Houses for discussion. The Bill seeks to bring clarity to the country's forest conservation law and exempt certain categories of land from its purview to fast-track strategic and security-related projects of national importance. In his letter to Birla, Tewari raised the issue of the "unusual manner" in which the Forest (Conservation

According to the state forest minister Vijay Shah, in this year's Van Mela, forest products worth Rs 3 crore were sold

Overall mangrove cover increased between 2011 and 2021

A sharp left-right dichotomy is a common way to think about the stakes in the runoff poll on Oct. 30. Still, as with the candidates' economic platforms, their forest policies have a lot more in common

Northeast states see highest decline in forest cover

The India State of Forests Report (ISFR) 2021 was released by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav

Proposed legal amendments are in the right direction

The oxygen that we get from nature is about increasing green cover and ensuring that our air - our every breath - is not polluted.

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It's going to be the country's fourth forest policy after the ones launched in 1894, 1952 and 1988

Objective of new policy has to be to invigorate forests and maintain their vital plant and wildlife biodiversity

Policy recommends keeping 40% of India's forests safe from all kind of mining