'No damage to forests from green revolution'
The green revolution has not led to any major destruction of forests or grasslands, according to Dr Lloud Evans, Honorary Research Fellow at the Canberra-based Commonwealth scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The green revolution has saved a great deal of land from clearing and biodiversity from its greatest threat. …
Forest minister keeps vigil through BJP network
Call it a 'parallel forest department' or a forest bridgade minister of state for forest Dolatbhai Desai will be using his own network of Bhaartiya Janata Party workers and locals to keep a vigil on the rampant tree felling in Gujarat 's forests.
Speakers hail leasehold forestry
Speakers at a workshop hailed the Hills Leasehold Forestry Project (HLFP) that aims to uplift the people below poverty line. They said that the project has been extended to over 16 districts, in addition to the already existing 10 districts, from this year as the project proved to be very …
Seminar on participatory forest management
The Nagarika Seva Trust and the Dakshina Kannada Parisarasaktha Okkoota have jointly organised a one-day seminar on the reationale and implications of the concept of participatory forest management.The seminar, to be held in Guruvayanakere on November 7 and focus on region-specific issues, will discuss the concept with special reference to …
HC orders CBI probe into allegation
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday ordered a CBI inquiry into the allegation of illegal felling of trees from Periya forests in Wayanad in collusion with the former Revenue Minster, Mr. K. E. Ismail, and the former Forest Minister, Dr. Neelalohithadasan Nadar. The court made it …
Bare mountains, poor people
Afghanistan is now losing its last trees for firewood, or for export by the Pakistan based logging mafia. The latest estimates are that forest cover is now below 0.5% of the country's land, down from more than 3% in 1980. By 2005, environmentalists fear, all the natural woods will have …
High Court orders CBI probe into Periya tree-felling case
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court Today ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Periiya tree felling case, treating the report filed by the former Revenue Secretary Jiji Thomson as the First Information Report.
1bn saplings to be planted in NWFP
The NWFP Minister for Forests, Wildlife and Environment, Mohammad Abbass Khan on Thursday unveiled a forest development programme, "NWFP Forest Vision-2025". As many as one billion saplings will be planted over an area of two million acres in different areas of the Pakistan province under the programme.
Study finds forest service timber subsidy report unreliable
A General Accounting Office (GAO) report concludes that the U.S. Forest Service's reports on timber subsidies are unreliable, not released in a timely manner and did not provide the basic cost accounting information needed to determine the net cost of the logging program.
Orissa green belt must be restored
The danger from recurring cyclones and health hazards such as cerebral malaria will continue to dog Orissa unless afforestation efforts are started on a war footing along the coastline. Forest officials had submitted an action plan to the government last year. Action is still awaited.
Genetically improved cultivar of Gamari timber developed
The Ram Forest Research Institute (RFRI) under the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, and situated at Sotai to the east of Jorhat city, has scientifically developed an improved and high-yielding cultivar of Gamari timber by transfer of germplasm through vegetative propagation. These 'elite' germplasm are reported to be …
Villagers plant trees to finance their girl's wedding
With increasing demand of dowry in the marriage of daughter in this village of Sitpur(Nepal), the poor local people have started planting trees as soon as daughters are born in order to finance daughters marriage.
Kenyan greens condemn govt over forest plans
A leading Kenyan environmental group lambasted the government yesterday for its decision to cut down more than 170,000 acres of forest, calling it a politically motivated step that would damage the environment and economy.
The forest in the clouds
Developers, ranchers and small farmers have for decades been steadily slashing and burning their way deep into the lowlands of Costa Rica, near the coasts. Today only 1200 square kilometers, or 18 percent of the original lowland forest, remains untouched. Nobody ever suspected that cutting forests at sea level would …
Bhatti mines : Between landfill and green belt
Environmentalists may not agree but officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) are wondering if they can still retain the greenery at Bhatti Mines, a proposed landfill site. The landfill site is spread over 1,400 acres and can take waste for about 30 years. There is no system of …
Experts question claim on forest cover
The Madhya Pradesh Government's projection that the forest cover in the State has increased by 376 square kilometres based on satellite imagery data used by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) in its latest periodic survey, is being contested vehemently in knowledgeable circles here.
Forest cover increases by 376 sq km
Conservation and protection of forests would be further intensified with the help of forest committees in Madhya Pradesh. The state government has decided to give 100 per cent income to the forest committees earned by improving degraded forests. In addition, the forest committees would be given funds to carry out …
M.P. foresters confused over management
There is plenty of chaos and confusion these days among the foresters responsible for enforcing the laws relating to forest protection and management in Madhya Pradesh due to the State Government's determined efforts to gradually transfer the important role of managing the forests to the joint forest management committees (JFMs) …
Army helps protect forest wealth
Although the Forest Department has completely failed in discharging its responsibility in protecting the Naduar Reserve Forest from the illegal encroachers and from the illegal encroachers and from the timbers smugglers, an appreciable role has been played by the Army and police recently when they help seize valuable wood, worth …
