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The axe effect

The axe effect The government of Orissa lifted a 1992 ban on felling of trees in 11 of its 50 forest divisions in September this year. "The move was not based on any scientific assessment. The forest department (fd) has not analysed the impact of the ban,' says B B Pandey of the Regional Centre for Development Cooperation (rcdc), a non-governmental organisation, in Bhubaneshwar. rcdc held a public meeting on November 7, 2005, to discuss the lifting of the ban.

Even foresters agree that the fd does not have the resources to monitor felling according to working plan (wp) requirements (wp s chalk out land for felling and the procedures governing them). The state's fd is short of staff; 40 per cent forest guard posts are vacant.

"The working plans for 11 divisions have been approved by the Union ministry of environment and forest,' says Bhagirathi Behera, director (operation), Orissa Forest Development Corporation (ofdc). According to him only a restricted number of trees will be cut, especially old and mature trees, which will otherwise rot and lose their timber value.

Officials say if officers are present in forests for felling operations, illegal logging will be reduced. "But isn't it the job of the fd to be present and prevent smuggling anyway?' asks Pandey.

Y Giri Rao of the ngo Vasundhara, who has studied the wp s, says, "They are revisions of decades-old British era ones. Decisions about current forest density are based on biomass studies done only on sample patches of 8-10 hectares.' A wp is also supposed to adjust the annual yield against illegal removal and natural loss. According to Pandey, only one of the plans takes this into account. He adds, "This means felling will be done over and above what has already been lost.' Unscheduled felling due to diversion of forestland for mining projects

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