Nation`s forestry workers cashing in their chips
A tree falling in a forest may not make a sound in Japan, at least not in the cash register. "The price tag on your average straight-growing tree on a mountain comes out to about 1,000 yen," said Matsuo Iida, administrator of the Forestry Management Association of Japan, an incorporated …
Centre plans to open forests to private sector
The Centre has proposed throwing at least some portions of degraded forest land open to the private sector for commercial activity generating additional revenue involving the local community. As a first step the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest has asked the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) in Bhopal …
Colonial forest policy disastrous for State
The British colonial rulers brought an end to the traditional relation of the people of Assam with forests by creating the Reserved Forests, Protected Forests etc. Prior to the arrival of the Britishers, the people of Assam had a symbiotic relation with the forests. At the time of the arrival …
Ongoing bushfire battle gets a $100m boost
Melbourne was in floodwaters up to its waist., officials were launching a $100 million national bushfire-research initiative. As federal Science Minister Peter McGauran said, there would always be bushfires in Australia, regardless of the weather. "They will never be fully avoided, but their destructive power can be limited," Mr McGauran …
Musharraf for water issues resolution by next year
Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf referring to the dire water need for both agricultural and industrial development in the years ahead said that a decision on the construction of water reservoirs should be taken by next year, otherwise history will never forgive us. "We must take a decision by next …
BCC proposes green rule to building laws
In a bid to reshape urban forestry policy and with an eye on beautification of the Green City without forsaking development, the Bangalore City Corporation has proposed to make planting of two saplings compulsory for each house constructed on a 60x40 site.
Uttaranchal tree planting
The 127th Environment Regiment of the Garhwal Rifles plans to plant 15 lakh trees at a rate of 6,000 trees per day in Uttaranchal's Dehradun district by September 15, Commanding Officer (CO) Col P S Rathore, has said.
Greening cold desert ministers priority
Mr Ram Lal Thakur, the new Forest Minister, on Friday said that greening of the barren cold desert areas in the tribal belt would be his top priority and he would make efforts to get a special afforestation scheme sanctioned from the Centre for the purpose.
Illegal felling for coal
Trees in the kandi areas of Kathua district and the Samba area are being felled illegally to manufacture coal in kilns that have mushroomed along the Jammu-Pathankot national highway and the interior areas.
FRI to heal Delhi trees
Morning walkers in New Delhi's posh localities would soon heave a sigh of relief, literally. The Forest Research Institute (FRI) would help the New Delhi Municipal Corporation to paint the capital green. The NDMC has sought expert care of FRI botanists for Delhi's ailing trees, flanking some of the Capital's …
Two reservoirs on small rivers being planned
The Punjab government is planning to construct two water reservoirs on small rivers to overcome the shortage of water in February and March every year. This was stated by provincial irrigation minister Amer Sultan Cheema at a luncheon ceremony held for the Punjab Assembly's Press Gallery Committee. The Punjab faces …
32 trees chopped down, no one knows by whom
Something strange is happening at the afforested plot on Vidyanidhi Marg, in Mumbai, where 32 trees were surreptitiously chopped down. The 5,500-squaree-metre plot was handed over to the Ronson Foundation in 1990 for development and maintenance as a green belt by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). While the Ronson Foundation …
Assam: seized timber disappears mysteriously!
Despite a complete forest production force, check gates, and stringent laws, a huge number of valuable trees are felled in Assam's forests every year. Even worse, more than half of this illegally cut timber, which is siezed by the authorities, gets stolen from the authorities themeselves.
Ganja finds friendly fields in Orissa
Once limited to the inaccessible areas of the Naxalite-dominated Gajpati and Malkangiri, the menace of illegal ganja cultivation now threatens newer areas of Orissa. Sources said that professional cannabis growers have found a safe haven in the hilly and forest-infested tracts of Angul district where the crop has become an …
A struggle to save Niyamgiri forests
The undisputed fact is that Niyamgiri forests in Orissa are being clear felled for India to become one of the world's biggest aluminium producer as other corporates are working on identical projects. Lanjigarh, in this forest, is the focal point as Sterlite Industries proposes to set up an alumina refinery …
Punjab makes a new green plan
The Punjab Government has chalked out a comprehensive programme of forestation in the state.The new programme would see plants being planted in 3655 hectare of forest and non forest land at a cost of Rs 10 crore during the current financial year.
Haste to complete dam could have led to overlooking of safety standards
The Tehri District Administration has now conceded that as many as 109 workers were present in the Diversion Tunnel T-3 of the Tehri Dam when the rockslide took place on 2 August. This figure is above the 80 stated earlier, placing a question mark on the work records maintained by …
Are drowned Amazon trees nasty or nice?
Brazilian government was building the giant $8 billion dam that bears the name of this town in the eastern Amazon. No one cut down the trees or cleared the other growth in the 1770 square-kilometer area that would be flooded, and 20 years later this has become a problem. Decompsing …
VS : Forest mafia getting stronger under Chandy
The forest mafia which was operating during the time of A.K. Antony and K. Sudhakaran is becoming stronger under Oommen Chandy and K.P. Viswanathan, Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan said in Jeerakarappara in Kerala. Talking to mediapersons after visiting Jeerakappara, where illegal tree felling was reported, he said the mafia cleverly …
Some sections of Forest Ordinance to be axed
The Environment Education Society (EES) warned of a move by the Forest Department Sri Lanka to remove the sections 19, 20 and 21 of the Forest Ordinance dealing with other forest areas, excluding forest conservation and reservation on the pretence of streamlining duties of the Forest Department.
