Forests, indigenous communities and wildlife living in the jungles complement one another and are not rivals, said Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave on Friday, while inaugurating two-day Conference of senior forest officials from States across the country. He said agro-forestry, bamboo, or grass can be possible alternatives to reduce growing pressure on wildlife habitats.
“Jungle is a living entity and it also communicates, provided we have the ability to listen to it. The three essential components forests, tribal forest dwellers and life forms living in forests complement one another and are not rivals”, said Dave.
He affirmed that large-scale felling of trees in forests is not being done by tribal forest dwellers. Calling for a change in the colonial outlook that has existed from the pre-Independence period towards forests, tribal forest dwellers and life forms living in forests, the Minister emphasised the need to reduce pressure on forests.
Dave also spoke of new developments at the national level, as the CAMPA Bill, that enables effective utilization of large sum of funds available under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund. Meanwhile, the central theme of the meeting is development without destruction, peoples’ participation, building skills and capacities of the workforce, as well as people dependent on forests and illegal trade in wildlife and timber.
The Conference will discuss important issues related to forestry and wildlife.
The focus will be on various issues on wildlife conservation and management on the second day of the conference tomorrow. Some of the identified areas for discussion will include human-animal conflict, wildlife crime, and illegal wildlife trade and discuss ways to address these issues effectively.
The year 2016 is a milestone in the evolution of the Indian Forest Service, that has completed 50 years of its formation as an All India Service. To mark the occasion, a book titled, Golden leaves — was released by the Minister on the occasion.