Several initiatives taken to secure forests, government tells Rajya Sabha

New Delhi [India], December 15 (ANI): Among the crucial reforms for securing forest for growth and livelihood, the Environment Ministry on Thursday said it issued Wood-Based Industries Guidelines, 2016, and amendment to decentralise the regulatory processes concerning the wood-based industries for the development of the sector in the country.
Among these reforms, the Ministry has amended the Indian Forest Act, 1927, to exempt Bamboo grown in non-forest areas from the definition of tree, thereby doing away with the requirement of felling/transit permit for its transport and economic use.
The Ministry has also launched National Transit Pass System on a pilot basis for the issue of online transit permits. This system will help in monitoring and keeping records of movement of timbre and issue of transit permits for inter-state and intra-state transportation of timbre and bamboo and other minor forest produce from private lands/ government/private depot, according to the statement.
The information was given by the Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
He said the Ministry has developed web-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications PARIVESH portal, which is a single-window integrated forest and environmental management system for online submission and monitoring of the proposals submitted by the proponents for seeking environment, forest, wildlife and coastal regulation zone clearances from central government. It is a GIS-based system and analytics platform that provides information to various stakeholders using Decision Support System functionality.
Further, e-Green Watch portal of the Ministry is an advanced technology-based platform designed to facilitate automation, streamlining and effective management of processes related to plantations and other forestry works taken up under Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) fund. Forest Survey of India (FSI) carries out analysis of geo-spatial data (polygons) of various plantations uploaded by the state forest departments on e-Green Watch portal for accuracy of location, area and year of plantation. (ANI)