In order to secure forests for growth and livelihood, the Ministry has taken a lot of reform/initiatives. Here’s what you need to know:-
The Ministry has issued Wood Based Industries (Establishment and Regulation) Guidelines, 2016, and amendments dated 11th September 2017 to decentralize the regulatory processes for the development of wood-based industries.
For the purpose of increasing farmers’ income and green cover outside of forests and encouraging bamboo cultivation, the Ministry amended the Indian Forest Act, 1927 so bamboo grown in non-forest areas didn’t get a felling/transit permit for its transport and economic use, so bamboo isn’t defined as a tree.
On a pilot basis, the Ministry has also launched the National Transit Pass System for issuing online transit permits for timber, bamboo, and other minor forest products. This system will keep track of timber movement and issue transit permits for inter-state and intra-state transport of timber and bamboo from private lands/government/private depots.
The Ministry has developed web-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications PARIVESH portal (Pro-Active and Responsive Facilitation by Interactive Virtuous and Environmental Single-window Hub), which is a single-window integrated forest and environmental management system for submitting proposals and watching them for clearance from the Central Government in the Environment, Forest, Wildlife and Coastal Regulation Zones. Using Decision Support System functionality, this GIS-based system provides information to stakeholders.
The Ministry’s e-Green Watch portal is an advanced technology platform designed to automate, streamline, and manage processes related to plantations and other forestry projects under CAMPA. In order to get accurate location, area, and year of plantations, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) analyzes geospatial data (polygons) of various plantations uploaded by the State Forest Departments on its E-Green Watch portal.
Additionally, the Forest Survey of India developed the Van Agni Geo-portal for continuous monitoring and tracking of large forest fires on a near-real-time basis. The Van Agni Geo-Portal is a single point of information about forest fires in India.
Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, gave the following information in a written reply today.