Environment protection and economic development must go together, stressed the Vice President of India, M Venkaih Naidu. The States must be incentivised for increasing forest cover. The NITI Aayog and the Centre must have provisions to encourage states doing well, and top most priority must be given to the forest, rivers and Nature, he stressed. Naidu was speaking at the convocation of Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) here on Wednesday. The Vice President said that fundamental principle of forest management should be based on conservation and sustainable utilisation of natural resources. He stressed on the need for employing environment friendly approach and living with nature for a better future. It should be the sacred duty of everyone to plant and protect trees, he added. Tree plantation and environment protection should become mass movement, he added. He said, “The symbiotic association of man and forest is deeply embedded in the religious and the socio-cultural mind set of our countrymen and it is getting disturbed in recent times due to increasing demand for natural resources and lack of understanding about Mother Nature. The Indian culture has traditionally revered trees as holy symbols of divinity. It was considered as a sin to cut trees like Peepal,” he added. He further said that locals, Panchayats and local bodies should be provided incentive and operational rights which will encourage the states and people to increase green cover. The Vice President said that there is a need to guide, provide knowledge to tribal or local communities on conservation techniques. He further said that foresters must be development facilitators and a growth enabler without compromising the national interest and the welfare of the people especially the tribal groups who depend on forests for their livelihood. India has come a long way in changing the management strategies from keeping people away from the forests for protection purposes to managing the forest with cooperation of people in the form of Joint Forest Management, he added. Addressing the 2016-18 batch on the occasion, he said that they were entering the forest service at a crucial time in which India is trying to carve out an important and rightful position in the world. India is among the fastest growing economies in the world today. It is now paying much more attention to environment than earlier. He said, “As a Forester, your management approach should be as a development facilitator and a growth enabler without compromising the national interest and the welfare of the people especially the tribal groups who depend on forests for their livelihood. Overgrazing, shifting cultivation and fires have resulted in elimination of many species. We need to work with local communities to rehabilitate the degenerated forests and encourage farmers to adopt ecologically sustainable practices. This is not an easy job and best brains and hearts are needed to make this fine balance. Man-animal conflict is increasing in our country and it is a cause of concern for poor people living in the vicinity of forests. You should try to devise innovative solutions to overcome this conflict to reduce life and property of people as well as animals. I know that forest service is a very challenging service and you have to work in difficult terrains and face life-threatening situations in the forests every day from wild animals and vicious forces and unscrupulous smugglers who try to plunder the forest products. You are an army of green soldiers committed to maintain our rich natural heritage to secure our collective future,” he said. Uttarakhand governor Krishan Kant Paul stressed on the need for more research in forest conservation. There is also need for considerable change in forest management. He also emphasised on the need for adoping the green accounting concept which is especially important for a mountainous state like Uttarakhand. The Union minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Harsh Vardhan spoke on the need for empowering the forest dependent communities. He stressed on the importance of efforts aimed at forest conservation from the view point of deriving long term benefits, livelihood source for villagers and the means to mitigate climatic change. Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that the importance of forest has been increasing every day and urged upon the young officers to contribute to forest conservation. He hoped that newly passed out officers would work towards new technologies and research. He said that forest resources are the base of our lives and there is a big challenge to have a balance between forest conservation and basic human needs. He stressed upon the need to use new technologies in checking incidents of forest fires. The IGNFA director Shashi Kumar also addressed the gathering on the occasion.