[Assam] Plant fast growing native varieties(a leaf from the Chinese)10:1 felled.

[Bartta Bistar]

 

German hope for Assam’s green cover

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050622/asp/northeast/story_4897775.asp

 

Guwahati, June 21: The fast depleting forest cover in Assam, might get a new lease of life provided representatives of an international funding agency approves aids for a forest department project.

A team from the Indo-German Bilateral Development Agency will visit Assam in September for discussions with Dispur on the feasibility of restoring the forest cover through people’s participation before giving a green signal for financial assistance.

Assam chief conservator of forests (social forestry) R.P. Agarwalla said the department had recently submitted a Rs 250 crore rejuvenation project to the Centre which, in turn, forwarded it to the Indo-German Bilateral Development Agency for aids from German financial institutions. The forest department had initially asked for Rs 700 crore but pruned it down to Rs 250 crone, on Delhi’s advice, to increase chances of a positive response from the Germans.

Agarwalla added that the German agency has expressed interest in the project.

In recent times, a cash-strapped state treasury and limited assistance from the Centre has compelled the state forest department to look for external aids to fund its projects. The department had submitted a project to the World Bank some years back but nothing came of it.

At present, the chief conservator said, central assistance through the National Afforestation Programme covered only 25,000 hectares of forest, which was not much considering the extent of forest degradation in Assam: about one million hectares of forest land has been degraded.

Agarwalla said the aim of the rejuvenation project was to restore 60,000 hectares of forests in 10 districts, through increased people’s participation. The joint forest management committees, numbering 503 in Assam, will be strengthened and 300 new joint committees created.

Forest officials said people’s participation is a must for protecting forests from encroachment. “Just evicting settlers does not solve the problem. There has to be constant patrolling, sustained plantation drives in affected areas and proper surveillance to ensure that theevicted stretches remain free. This is vital for rejuvenation programmes to succeed,” an official said.

 

 

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