The Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey chaired the conference of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) / Head of Forest Force (HoFF) here today. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change organized the conference to discuss various forestry and wildlife issues for coming up with solutions and innovative ideas to meet both local and global challenges. The second part of this conference will be held on 15th November, 2021.
Various important environmental issues like streamlining the approvals of forest diversion cases under Forest Conservation Act, 1980, increasing trees outside forests (ToF) and increasing the incomes of the tree growers, implementation of Nagar Van Yojana and greening our urban and peri-urban landscapes, rejuvenation of rivers and helping them to revive, capacity building of forest staffs and making them equipped with best logistics and enabling regulatory framework for felling and transit permits etc will be discussed in this conference.
The conference also aims to deliberate all those important issues which are essential for ‘Ease of Doing Business’, ‘motivating people to plant trees on fallow lands’ and ‘making working conditions of the forest force best suited to challenges’. The Ministry will take advantage of good practices and innovative initiatives being taken by the State Governments in the areas of afforestation, forest production, wildlife management and biodiversity conservation.
The broad agenda of the conference is as follows:
- Identification of Land Bank for CA plantations and raising compensatory afforestation (CA) on degraded forest land or non-forest land FC Division
- Streamlining the process of approvals under FCA,1980
- Status of notification of CA land into RF/PF
- Status of plantations raised under NPV component since 2002.
- Strategy of States for achieving the NDC targets of creating additional Carbon sink of 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030.
- Promotion of Trees Outside Forest (ToF)- Enabling regulatory framework for felling and Transit for tree growers.
- Digitation of forest Boundaries- Status and constraints if any
- Status of Working Plan in States
- Implementation of Nagar Van Yojna
- Status of uploading of polygons on egreenwatch portal
- Views of States on National Timber Permit System Forest
- Submission of comments of States on report of the committee for improving and strengthening the working conditions of forest frontline staff
- Submission of report on Capacity Development for Forest Management and Training of Personnel Phase-II(JICA Project)
- Comments on training of Forest Officers and Field Staff
- Status of projects on Rejuvenation of rivers
- Implementation of guidelines pertaining to Wood Based Industries
