The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006, aimed at recognition and protection of rights of scheduled tribes and traditional forest dwellers, will, in all likelihood be misused, negating the very objectives of the Act itself. It could result in fresh occupation of lands by forest dwellers for cultivation, taking shelter under the provisions of the Act and also open the floodgates for occupation of forest lands by political parties championing the cause of scheduled tribes, and triggering the circulation of fake ST certificates.

Promoting activities relating to afforestation through Green India was introduced in the last session of the parliament and is expected to be passed in the coming session. The authority would initially provide about Rs 3,000 crore followed by Rs 1,000 crore per year for four years to part finance afforestation of six million hectares of degraded forest land in two phases, he added. He said that forests were the repositories of priceless wealth of different species and life forms, both plants and animals.

The government of the Indonesian province, Papua, has signed a deal with a Sydney-based firm to establish a forestry-based carbon finance project. The project

Amid pouring rain, about 500 residents of Versova

The Forest Department of BTC has undertaken initiatives for conservation of forest resources in the BTC region by holding several awareness campaigns, seminars, workshops and motivation programmes. The department has engaged a good number of volunteers and NGOs to protect the forests wealth. The Primate Research Centre, NE India, in active collaboration with BTC forest department organized a six-day-long workshop recently at Inspection Bunglow Kachugaon to train up the forest protection volunteers regarding the conservation and safeguarding of flora and fauna of the area.

Instructions have been issued to forest officers for implementation of Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition to Forest Rights) Act-2006 and Rule 2008. The state government has set in motion the process of making available updated records of the land encroached by forest dwellers.