Chief Secretary Asha Swaroop said the forest planning and development projects in the Himalayan region needed to be altered to address the likely impact of climate change to minimise the adverse impact and vulnerability.

Speaking at the inaugural function of the three-day national conference on “Forestry Solutions: Strategies for Mitigation and Adaptation of the Impact of Climate Change in Western Himalayan Mountain States” here today, she said adaptation strategies should ensure a proper balance between demand and supply of forest products.

“The population of the developing world is much more vulnerable to changes effected by climate changes as its vast population is dependent on climate sensitive economic sectors like agriculture, forestry and fisheries,” she remarked. She added that the impact of climate change on crop yields was predominantly negative for the tropics.

Swaroop said actions on climate change mitigation and adaptation in forestry would benefit from a more active engagement of forestry officials. She said ecological productivity and bio-diversity would be altered by climate change and sea level would rise with an increased risk of extinction of some vulnerable species.

Speaking at the conference, Additional Chief Secretary (Forest) Avay Shukla said there was an urgent need to have a separate forest policy for the western Himalayas. While stressing the need for revamping of forest policies, he said the optimum policy choices in containing deforestation and forest degradation required careful analysis.

“Warning signals like early departure of migratory birds from Pong Dam, early blooming of the rhododendron flowers in February, reduced snow and early egg laying by jungle fowl are indications of adverse impact of global warming and climate change, which will affect us much more,” he said.

Giving data, he said so far 10,000 hectares of forest land had been diverted for various project with 8,000 hectares being allotted for power projects alone.

Delegates from premiere institutes working in the field of climate change and environment and participants from the three Himalayan states of Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal attended the conference.