Now, top forest officials to oversee working plans

The Tribune , Friday, August 12, 2011
Correspondent : Rakesh Lohumi
Shimla, August 11

Concerned over the inordinate delay in the revision of the expired forest working plans (FWPs), the bible of forest management, the government has decided to make an Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests along with two Chief Conservator of Forests responsible for the task.

Unlike the past when independent working plan officers were appointed, the task of writing the detailed FWP has been assigned to territorial divisional forest officers and the Conservator of Forests concerned will be responsible for writing the preliminary WFPs. The two Chief Conservator of Forests to be located at Shimla and Mandi will provide technical assistance and personally supervise each WFP. In all 22 DFOs have been designated as working plan officers.

At present of the total 34 forest working plans covering 38 divisions, 21 have already expired and another eight will expire in the next three years. The working plans for Shimla-Theog and Una expired last year and that of Outer Seraj will expire during the current year. The plans for Chamba, Hamirpur and Nahan-Paonta will be valid up to 2013 and Renuka and Nichar-Pooh up to 2014.

In the absence of approved WFPs, the management of forests was being affected as over the past 15 years the focus had completely shifted from commercial felling to rehabilitation of degraded areas, watershed development, enhancement of livelihood and carbon sequestration to retard the process of climate change. The new WFPs will take care of all these issues and make prescriptions accordingly.

Additional Chief Secretary, Forests, Sudipto Roy said the Chief Conservator of Forests would be appointed soon after the Vidhan Sabha session and thereafter a series of meetings would be held to decide about the parameters to be changed or replaced and the new ones to be introduced to ensure that the WFPs reflected the ground realities and facilitated the implementation of the polices of the government. For instance, hydropower projects had become a major concern and it required dovetailing of the catchment area treatment (CAT) plans with the FWPs.

Besides, revised FWPs would enable the department to know the exact growing stock and in turn the carbon sequestration to enable it to take benefit of carbon credits. Besides, it would also focus on new species which facilitate carbon sequestration to phase out existing the commercial species like pine.

 
SOURCE : http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110812/himachal.htm#3
 


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