The condition of India’s forest and her forest dwellers is extremely grave. A fresh round of police attacks on tribal people

A major conservation issue, particularly in the tropics, is habitat loss and fragmentation due to developmental activities and increasing human populations.

Under the Joint Forest Management (JFM) programme in south-western West Bengal, regenerating deciduous forests are being managed for the extraction of numerous plant products, both for commercial benefits and subsistence-level use, on a large scale.

The involvement of local communities in protecting and conserving forests has become a priority concern with aid agencies, governmental departments, NGO's and others concerned with biodiversity conservation, to the extent that participatory forest conservation has become a buzzword in conservation circles.

During my tenure as Divisional Forest Officer in Mahasamund Forest Division, I came across the oldest teak plantation of Chhattisgarh. The Gidhpuri beat of Lavan Range of Raipur Forest Division is proud of having the oldest Teak plantation of Chhattisgarh state. The teak plantation is now 111 years old.

National programme on improved chulhas put on ice