National

“Restoring degraded forests, major task before us”

NEW DELHI: The major task before the country is to rehabilitate degraded forests, increase productivity and enhance the contribution of forests towards poverty alleviation among people living in and around forests, Minister of State for Environment and Forests S. Regupathy said on Friday.

Speaking at World Forestry Day celebrations here, he said India was actively participating in different forest-related international processes.

It had highlighted the gaps in the implementation of sustainable forest management in the decisions of the Bali Conference on Climate Change and on other international forums. Referring to this year’s theme “Forest and Climate Change,” Mr. Regupathy said the process of economic growth and development through industrialisation and urbanisation led to emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), causing a rise in global temperature.

“Carbon dioxide is the dominant GHG accounting for about half of the total global warming contribution by all GHGs together. We have to work very hard to increase land area under forest and achieve one-third area of the country under forest and tree.”

On the National Forest Policy, the Minister said its aim was to provide environmental stability and ecological balance including atmospheric equilibrium, which were vital for the sustenance of all life forms — human, animal and plants. “India’s forests are primarily considered social and environmental resources. The institutional framework of forest development is shifting from regulatory to participatory mode of administration and will be more people-oriented in future.”

Earlier in his keynote address, R.K. Pachauri, Director-General of The Energy and Resources Institute, said forests were “our biggest treasure. Application of science can help in increasing forest cover and development of forests which are under great stress.”

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