Forest Department

Two killed, one injured in attack by elephants in MP's Umaria district

SDO Forest Department Kuldeep Tripathi said that three teams of 50 persons from the Forest Department are engaged in the search operation in the neighbouring villages

Wolf that killed seven children in UP caught; Here's all you should know

At least eight people lost their lives in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district in wolf attacks in recent months. Forest department has launched "Operation Bhediya" nab the animals

Govt proposes to introduce new rules to clean up contaminated sites

The MoEFCC's proposal aligns with the "polluter pays" principle, ensuring that those responsible for environmental damage bear the cost of cleanup

Wildfire north of Los Angeles spreads as authorities evacuate 1,200 people

Authorities evacuated at least 1,200 people on Saturday as a wildfire in Los Angeles County spread over thousands of acres near a major highway and threatened nearby structures, officials said. The blaze being called the Post Fire burned more than 3,600 acres (5.6 square miles or 14.5 square kilometers) near the Interstate 5 freeway in Gorman, about 62 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. California State Park Services evacuated 1,200 people from the Hungry Valley recreation area in Gorman and both Hungry Valley and the Pyramid Lake reservoir were closed as a result of the fire threat, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in an 8 p.m. update. The flames broke out at around 1:45 pm, authorities said. The fire was moving southeast toward Pyramid Lake and crews were constructing perimeter fire lines while aircraft worked against limited visibility to stop the fire's progress, the fire department

Roadside trees not to be cut in favour of commerce: Kerala HC to govt

The Kerala High Court has directed the state government to ensure no trees on roadsides are felled merely because they obstruct commercial activities. The High Court said that trees can be cut and removed only if they are in damaged condition and as a result pose a danger to public safety. A decision regarding that should be taken by a committee constituted in accordance with a 2010 government order regulating the felling and disposal of trees growing on government lands, Justice P V Kunhikrishnan said. "Without such a decision, no trees on the roadside of the State shall be cut and removed by any authorities. The Chief Secretary of the State shall issue necessary orders to that effect. "...the State of Kerala should see that no request to cut and remove trees on the roadsides of the State can be permitted without sufficient reasons. Trees give cool shades, pure oxygen and shelter to birds and animals," the court said in its order of May 22. The court's ruling came while dismissin

'Over 5 mn large farmland trees vanished in India between 2018 and 2022'

More than 50 lakh large farmland trees vanished between 2018 and 2022 in India, partly due to altered cultivation practices, revealing a "concerning trajectory," new research published in the journal Nature Sustainability has found. Researchers said that "an observable trend was emerging" wherein agroforestry systems are being replaced with paddy rice fields, even as a certain loss rate could be found to be natural. Large and mature trees within these agroforestry fields are removed, and trees are now being cultivated within separate block plantations typically with lower ecological value, they said. Block plantations, usually involving fewer species of trees, were found to have increased in numbers which some villagers from Telangana, Haryana, Maharashtra and other states confirmed via interviews. The team, including researchers from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, explained that the decision to remove trees is often driven by perceived low benefits of the trees, coupled wi

International Day of Forests 2024: All about importance of greenery in life

World Forest Day 2024 is marked internationally on 21 March 2024. It intends to bring issues to light of the value of forests and their various advantages in our society

Odisha asks forest, agri depts to plant palm trees to mitigate lightning

The Odisha government has asked the Forest and Agriculture departments to take up massive palm tree plantation as an effective mitigation measure to avoid death of people due to lightning strike in rural areas. The decision in this regard was taken at an inter-departmental meeting convened by Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Satyabrata Sahu. "Inter-departmental meeting held by SRC for undertaking disaster resilient projects under Disaster Mitigation Fund. @ForestDeptt & @krushibibhag asked to take up massive Palm tree plantation in reserve forest area and other vulnerable districts as a #Lightning mitigation measures," the SRC said in a post in X. The SRC's decision came in the wake of many people, mostly farmers losing their lives due to lightning strikes while working in agricultural fields. As many as 281 lightning deaths were reported in 2021-22, most of them from rural areas. Stating that environmentalists and weather experts have opined that rampant felling of palm trees ...

Dhami holds review meeting amid heavy rain, asks officials to ensure action

The Chief Minister directed officials to ensure the safety of citizen and the availability of all possible facilities for them

Policy limitations hurting survival of transplanted trees: Forest dept

The survival rate of transplanted trees in Delhi drastically comes down after the first year due to multiple reasons, including limitations of the tree transplantation policy, the city government's Forest department found during an in-house audit conducted recently. The tree survival rate after one year of transplantation is up to 90 per cent. It drastically drops to 38 per cent after three years, a senior Forest department official, requesting anonymity, told PTI. Data collected after a preliminary audit and submitted to Delhi High Court in May last year showed that only 33.33 per cent of the 16,461 trees transplanted in the national capital over the preceding three years had survived. The Delhi government's tree transplantation policy states that agencies concerned must transplant a minimum 80 per cent of the trees affected by its development works. The benchmark tree survival rate at the end of one year of transplantation is 80 per cent. A three-member committee set up to identi

Explained: How do India's different states choose their state animals?

How did the Nilgai get selected as Delhi's state animal? How do states choose their state animals? Read here

Kerala forest dept receives 1st radio collar signal from 'Arikkomban'

The elephant, which is around 37 years old, was darted by a team of forest officials led by Chief Veterinary surgeon of Kerala forest department, Dr. Arun Zachariah on Saturday

Deaths of Cheetahs in Kuno were expected: South Africa forest dept

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

Bengal Forest Dept to set limits within wildlife sanctuaries for tourists

The state forest department sources said that the exact reason behind the rhinos suddenly charging at the tourist safari jeep is yet to be ascertained

Salt pan workers of Little Rann protest eviction bid by Gujarat forest dept

Salt pan workers on Friday protested against notices issued to them by the forest department for eviction from a wildlife sanctuary in Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) in Gujarat and submitted a memorandum to the collector of Surendranagar. A part of the LRK, which is a salt marsh, falls in Surendranagar district and is protected as a wild ass sanctuary. "More than 400 Agariyas, or salt farmers, gathered outside the district collector's office at Patdi here and submitted a memorandum and raised slogans against the move by the state forest department to evict them. They also accused the forest department of damaging and confiscating their solar panels used to make salt," an official said. The salt farmers have sought that the state government protect their traditional livelihood and have alleged only small farmers were being targeted, while bigger units were left untouched, he said. The memorandum of the NGO Agariya Heet Rakshak Manch marked for state forest minister Mulu Bera claimed the

Leopard spotted in Greater Noida Society, rescue operation underway

"Today, a wild animal was spotted there again. We verified the information and the rescue operation is on," said District/Divisional Forest Officer (DFO)

Tribal economy set to get a fillip; Madhya Pradesh govt notifies PESA Act

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

Intend to limit buffer zones within forests; may launch survey: Kerala govt

The Kerala government on Tuesday said its intention was to try limiting buffer zones within forest regions and that it was also considering a field survey of affected areas to resolve concerns of the public on the issue. Speaking to reporters at Thiruvananthapuram after meeting major archbishop-catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Baselios Cleemis, Kerala Transport Minister Antony Raju and state Water Minister Roshi Augustine said the Left government's intention was to try and limit buffer zones within the forests. The ministers, while downplaying the meeting with Cardinal Cleemis as casual, said the government was also considering carrying out field surveys of the areas where buffer zones have to be implemented in accordance with the Supreme Court directions. They met the Cardinal hours before the high level meeting, called by Vijayan on Monday, to be held in the afternoon. The high level meeting will be chaired by the CM and would comprise the state Ministers of ...

270 urban forest projects approved since 2020: Govt tells Parliament

Nagar Van Yojana, launched in 2020, aims to enhance green cover, biodiversity in cities

Villagers booked for thrashing forest rangers on Rajasthan-MP border

At least six personnel of the forest department were injured after they were allegedly attacked by villagers during a confrontation over removal of encroachment on stretch of forest land on MP-Rajasthan border. The incident happened in Kasba Thana forest check post range under Baran district, when a forest department squad visited the area for a plantation drive and to remove the encroachment. On the basis of a complaint of forest department officials, around 10 people only two of them identified were booked on Saturday night on charges of deterring a public servant from discharge of his duty and hurting him. None of the accused have been arrested yet, even though the area was raided by police teams led by Circle Officer Hament Gautam and SHO Rajkumar Meena on Sunday. Around 35-40 Bheel tribe families, belonging to villages on the RajasthanMP border have encroached over 200-300 bigas of forest land in Kasba Thana forest range , and erected tents and started living there with plan