The State Forest Department will spend nearly Rs. 6 crore for maintenance of degraded plantations raised on 47,000 hectares and carry out buffer zone activities in 230 villages this year.

Along with activities under infrastructure improvement, forestry extension, research, monitoring and evaluation and GIS, the buffer zone activities will be carried out this year under Tamil Nadu Afforestation Project (Phase II). The project is being implemented from 2005-06 to 2012-13 with an outlay of Rs. 567 crore in 950 villages (800 under Japan International Cooperation Agency and 150 under State funds).

Tamil Nadu has always been in the forefront of environment conservation, said C.V. Sankar, Principal Secretary, Environment and Forests, here on Tuesday.

The Tamil Nadu Forest Act of 1882 is one the oldest in the country. The State had also played a role in the Supreme Court coming out with landmark judgements related to environment.

Use of plantation land in State for tourism activities

The ecological impacts of the decision to allow construction of resorts and hotels in plantations will be assessed by the Kerala Forest Department. Minister for Forests K.B. Ganesh Kumar says that officials of the department will be asked to look into the possible impacts of the order on forest ecosystems and wildlife. The order is applicable only to private estates and officers stationed near these estates will be put on high alert.

The Forest Department on Friday submitted before the Kerala High Court that the Cherunelli estate in the Nelliampathy forest region has been notified as reserve forests.

According to the state, 296 acres are notified as reserve forest. The state further submitted that in an order dated January 20, 2006, the state had made it clear that any transfer of lease land by way of assignment lease or gift attracts the Forest Conservation Act, and hence lessees cannot have any absolute right to transfer the forest land to strangers.

State delegation will soon meet Jayanthi Natarajan: Yogeshwar

Much against the wishes of the Karnataka State government, Union Minister for Environment and Forests (MoEF) Jayanthi Natarajan on Tuesday announced in Parliament that final approval had been accorded to declare Kudremukh National Park as a tiger reserve. The State government is against declaration of the Kuderamukh National Park as a tiger reserve, and heritage tag accorded to 10 sites of the Western Ghats. With the Union government’s final approval, the Kudremukh National Park has become the fifth tiger reserve in Karnataka and 41st in the country.

Use of plantation land for tourism activities

The ecological impacts of the decision to allow construction of resorts and hotels in plantations will be assessed by the Kerala Forest Department. Minister for Forests K.B. Ganesh Kumar said here that the officials of the department would be asked to look into the possible impacts of the order on forest ecosystems and wildlife. The order was applicable only to private estates and officers stationed near these estates would be put on high alert. Night travel along forest routes to these estates would be regulated.

Alipurduar, Aug. 5: Japan government will spend over Rs 400 crore in Bengal over the next eight years for afforestation and development of the people depending on the forests.

In an order that will have far reaching consequences, the Supreme Court imposed a blanket ban on tourism in the core areas of tiger reserves with immediate effect on July 24. The order is up for review within three weeks, but the stage has been set for a period of considerable turmoil in matters related to wildlife tourism, particularly that where the tiger is involved.

There has been wide coverage of the development in the print and electronic media and the virtual world too has come alive with opinions, claims, allegations and counter allegations.

Area adjacent to Muthikulam and Siruvani forests

The Tribunal for Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands)- First Additional District Court has declared as evergreen forest 37.32 hectares of land claimed by a private party as cultivated area at Anakaranam Malavaram of Palakkayam village in the Mannarkad Forest Division . The scheduled property in survey number 2020\3 of Palakkayam village was notified as ecologically fragile land under the Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Act, 2003 which came into effect on June 2, 2000

Station director of Akashavani lauds role of radio in imparting awareness among masses

Former secretary to forest and environment department A N Yellappa Reddy said, including Western Ghats to UNESCO’s world heritage list would be apt, as most of the forest is already destroyed in the name of progress. He was speaking at an interaction programme on ‘role of media in developmental process’ here on Tuesday. He said, encroaching forest land for the purpose is not development. Among 45,000 applications pending at the Centre for permission for mining, 19,000 belongs to Karnataka.