It is heartening to note that as per the ISFR, 2019, the forest and tree cover of the country continues to show a rising trend despite immense pressure on our forests.

The global production and trade of major wood products such as industrial roundwood, sawnwood and wood-based panels have surged to their highest level since the Food and Agriculture Organization began recording forest statistics in 1947.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Forest Rights Act, 2006, 13/12/2019. As per information received from Ministry of Tribal Affairs, a total number of 19,64,048 titles (18,87,894 individual and 76,154 community claims) have been distributed over an area involving forest lands to the extent of 12938762.14 acres.

Negative impacts of climate change on forests threaten the delivery of crucial wood and non-wood goods and environmental services on which an estimated 1.6 billion people fully or partly depend.

Forests provide vital ecosystem services crucial to human well-being and sustainable development, and have an important role to play in achieving the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

Conservation, restoration, and improved management of forests are cost-effective solutions for large-scale reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removal of carbon from the atmosphere and thus help to hold the global temperature increase to well below 2.0°C or 1.5°C above preindustrial levels.

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Implementation of Forest Rights Act, 28/11/2019. As per Forest Rights Act,2006 and the rules made thereunder, the State Governments are responsible for implementation of the Act.

Mangroves cut across ecosystems, sectors, jurisdictions and governance regimes. While few countries have a specific mangrove law, many national and international regimes apply to or affect mangroves in some way.