Hyderabad: The forest department will encourage farmers to plant sandalwood trees in the next phase of the Harita Haram programme. Special incentives will be offered to farmers growing sandalwood and bamboo. And the rules for selling sandalwood may be eased.
These were some of the topics discussed at a video conference of all district-level forest officers from Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Along with easing the rules for the sale of sandalwood and bamboo, several decisions were taken regarding the development of tourism and protection of wild animals. The forest department has decided to pursue and monitor cases of poaching and killing of wild animals until those accused of the crime are punished. There were also discussions on the kind of seeds that would be most suitable to plant in the forests located in Telangana.
