Forest Commission Seeks Public Opinion
P.V. Rajaraman (left), Chairman, State Forest Commission, at a workshop held at Tamil Nadu Forest Academy in Coimbatore on Friday. The Tamil Nadu State Forest Commission on Friday sought opinions and suggestions from stakeholders in forest management for reviewing the existing policies and legal framework. Stakeholders could give in their opinions and suggestions to the Commission by sending an e-mail to forcom@tn.nic.in. The Forest Commission held a workshop and a consultative interactive session with the stakeholders which was presided over by Commission Chairperson P.V. Rajaraman, Thiruvalluvar University Vice-Chancellor L. Kannan and Chief Conservator of Forests and Member Secretary of the Commission S. Balaji.
The commission members told reporters that so far it had received 1,000 suggestions and most of them were related to forestry programmes. Of the target of 33 per cent forest cover, Tamil Nadu had only 22 per cent. They also added that in the last 10 years, 6.5 lakh hectare of degraded forest area had been restored with Japanese aid and in the last one year alone, 1.7 lakh hectare of forest area had been restored.
The commission also sought information from the stakeholders as a feedback on migratory corridor status and the measures required for protecting the corridors to prevent man-animal conflicts. They also added that growing of trees as part of the green cover enhancement in private lands was earning tremendous response. The commission would collect public opinion and prepare recommendations in March-April 2009, they said. Sessions on capacity building, conservation and wildlife issues, tree improvement and agro forestry was also held.
