Ringing the alarm bells on ecological security once again was Amrita Patel, chairman, National Dairy Development Board. "The re-forested uplands should be declared inviolate and designated National Forests and placed in charge of the Centre," she said. In her view the most effective approach to secure ecological foundations of the country lie in restoring forest and vegetative cover on "uplands" - mountains, hills and plateaus comprising 40 per cent of 328.7 million hectare of the country's geographical area.