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Kerala: Action plan to protect forests

Points-based forest management system will strike a balance between conservation and productivity.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Forest Department has drawn a priority list for action and has revived the points-based forest management system that will strike a balance between conservation and productivity. While conservation will get the highest number of points (25), raising the productivity of plantations has been given second billing (14). Reducing man-animal conflict (10 marks) and increasing the tree cover outside forest area (7 marks). Besides these, there are eight other priority areas. Each of these 11 priority areas has been accorded an action plan and success indicators. These indicators will have five achievement levels: excellent, very good, good, fair and poor.

The success indicators of conservation measures include speedy disposal of forest cases, deployment of manpower in remote protection camps, number of boundary cairns or markers planted and the extent of area protected from fire. “Timely disposal of forest offences has a clear impact on forest protection. Thanks to the laxity on the part of the staff, there is a huge backlog,” a top forest official said. The success of reducing man-animal conflict, the ‘results framework document’ of the department says, will depend on the percentage of funds released to victims.

“People who are affected by attack and crop raiding of wild animals need immediate compensation for the damages they had suffered,” the official said. The success of increasing the productivity of plantation will be assessed on the basis of the area planted with stock from the seeds of Central Seed Store, set up in Peechi with the support of Kerala Forest Research Institute. “Officers have been seen to be using seeds from unidentified sources, which in turn lowers the quality of a plantation,” the official said. The department’s move to increase tree cover outside forest area will be assessed on the basis of the number of seedlings distributed and the number of sacred groves for which financial assistance was given. There are about 1000 sacred groves in the state of sizes varying from a few cents to many hectares.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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