State Federation of Non-government Organisations is on a healthy green mission — planting one crore medicinal sapling by 2014 throughout the State.

Aptly named ‘Vriksha Dasoha ‘ (Distribution of saplings), the programme in association with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, aims to plant more saplings through schoolchildren in the first phase. Saplings will further be extended to farmers in the second phase. The programme was officially launched at a school here on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court on Monday gave the go-ahead for felling of 4,313 trees on the 76-km Taj Trapezium Zone stretch in Uttar Pradesh for the Dedicated Freight Corridor project by the railways, funded by the World Bank.

A bench of Justices D.K. Jain and Madan B. Lokur allowed the plea of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCI) after deliberations over the Forest Department’s definition of trees, as the bench had earlier sought clarification on whether saplings and trunks measuring four to five inches in diameter can be called trees.

The forest department has planted 16.43 lakh trees and raised 17.46 lakh plants in its nurseries under Compensatory Aforestation Management Planning Authority (CAMPA) in six divisions of Chenab For

JAMMU: The Forest Department has planted 16.43 lakh trees and raised 17.46 lakh plants in its nurseries under Compensatory Aforestation Management Planning Authority (CAMPA) in six divisions of Chenab Forest Circle during the period 2010-11 till March 2012, involving a cost of Rs 6.44 crore.

For the year 2012-13 the department has set a target of planting 8.31 lakh trees and to raise 10.47 lakh in its nurseries established across the Forest Circle spread over to three districts of Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar.

New Delhi Terming the mining lease of Karnataka-based Ramgad Minerals and Mining illegal, the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has temporarily suspended the stage-II clearance given to the firm's mines in Bellary and decided to issue the company a showcause notice on why it should not be cancelled.

On September 9, 2010, former environment minister Jairam Ramesh gave Ramgad Minerals’ mines in Karnataka the much-needed stage-II clearance or final approval for iron-ore mining on 335.04 hectare of forest land without obtaining the compliance report and recommendations of the state government.

Itanagar: The Arunachal Pradesh Bamboo Resources and Development Agency (APBRDA) has urged Centre to provide one time grant-in-aid of Rs 15 crore for regeneration and restocking of bamboo plantation in the gregarious bamboo flowering affected areas of the State.

A delegation of APBRDA in a memorandum to Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Tariq Anwar in New Delhi on Saturday pleaded his personal intervention to provide the grant immediately.

Leh: Even a mention of its name portrays the rugged terrain of the Himalayas with thin air, sparse vegetation and hardly enough water.

To compensate the damage caused by illegal mining activities in Karnataka, the environment panel of the Supreme Court has recommended setting up of super specialty hospitals, technical and vocation

The state government has proposed a new social forestry policy to be implemented in non-forest areas to increase green cover.

“In Maharashtra, there is 19 to 20 per cent of forest land. The social forestry department has decided to provide green cover to 80 per cent of the non-forest area and will elicit cooperation from local self-government bodies in this endeavour,” officials in the department said. Water Conservation Minister Nitin Raut, who holds the charge of social forestry, has appointed a study group headed by former Chief Secretary Arun Bongirwar to formulate the policy.