Maharashtra forest cover decreases by 11 sq km - TOI

PUNE: Forest cover in the state has decreased by 11 sq km, according to a report by the Forest Survey of India (FSI).

"Comparison of current satellite data (Oct-Dec 2006) with the previous satellite data (Oct-Dec 2004) shows a loss of 11 sq km of forest cover," says the India State of Forest report 2009, published by the FSI, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India.

According to the report released a week ago, the main cause for decline in forest cover in the state is the coupe works (cutting of trees) in Chandrapur district. Other reasons include the increase in water levels in some water bodies and clearance of private forest in the Konkan region.

The overall reduction has been calculated considering the geographical areas, very dense forest, moderately dense forest and open forest.

Forest cover in Maharashtra is 50,650 sq km, that is 16.46 per cent of the total geographical area of the state. The state has 8,739 sq km of very dense forest, while the area under moderately dense forest is 20,834 sq km. Open forest in the state consists of 21,077 sq km.

"The satellite pictures only indicate the larger picture. If tree cutting has taken place on a smaller scale in the forests, then it will not be reflected on the satellite pictures. So the report has not mentioned this," Tejinder Singh, regional director (central zone), FSI told TOI.

Only six districts have seen a change in forest cover. Reduction in forest cover has taken place in Chandrapur, Ratnagiri, Solapur and Wardha, whereas there has been an increase in forest cover in Nagpur and Gadchiroli.

All other districts have remained more or less constant. This includes Pune district.

The report states that Pune has 11.07 per cent of forest cover. The total area under forest cover in Pune is 1,732 sq km and includes 757 sq km of moderately dense forest and 975 sq km of open forest.

Maharashtra has six national parks and 35 wildlife sanctuaries. There are also the three tiger reserves of Tadoba, Melghat and Pench. These protected forest areas constitute around five per cent of the total geographical area of the state.

Asked what steps would be taken to prevent further loss of forest cover, Patangrao Kadam, state forest minister pointed out that better planning would have to be done. "We have started hold section-wise meetings so that planning can be done at every level, even the lowest. We will focus on areas where forest cover has been reduced. In the next couple of years this cover will be increased," he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/State-forest-cover-decreases-by-11-sq-km/articleshow/5316621.cms

Centre proposes strengthening of wildlife laws

To curb increasing incidents of wildlife killing across the country and let law act as a deterrent, Minister MOEF has proposed punishments under Wildlife Protection Act at par with FEMA, the dreaded Foreign Exchange Management Act. The draft amendments are supposed to be circulated to States soon, report The Hindu. Recent cases of dreaded poachers getting easy bail and continuing with the killings once out is making the centre realised the need for strengthening the hands of investigating agencies. Even the most dreaded poacher of all Sansar Chand managed to secure bail despite having confessed to trading in almost 500 tigers skin.

Wildlife protection Act to be more tiger friendly

http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/article53231.ece

CNN IBN exposes continued poaching inside TATR

A story posted on ibnlive.com shows a wild dog caught in a snare inside Tadoba Tiger Sanctuary. If the picture indeed was taken inside the park it is a sad comment on the govt's criminal negligence towards protecting animals inside designated forest sanctuaries. TATR has been in news recently for suspected cases of tigers being poached. Obviously no hard evidence has come to light so far with the park being left open to poachers after the govt took almost 2 months to appoint a new field director post removing the earlier one. Relocation of villagers, granting mining licenses in teh vicinity,TATR's wildlife is not just battling poaching mafia but also the so called protectors.

Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve hit by poaching

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/tadobaandhari-tiger-reserve-hit-by-poaching/101865-3.html

Uttarakhand govt allows project in the middle of Wildlife corridor in Nainital

The delicate balance betweeen development and conservation which is so key to wildlife protection is being gradually eroded by shortsighted policies of govt.

In a development that has set alarm bells ringing amongst conservation NGOs the Uttarakhand Govt has given permission for infratructure project to be developed right in the middle of a wildlife corridor reports the Times of India.

The said project is key to Tiger and Elephant movement across sanctuaries as per WII which published a report in 2003 and identified the area as key to healthy mixing of wildlife stock in the entire region.

Development no doubt is key every country's progress but at the expense of detroying critical wildlife !!

Thankfully the central govt has taken note of the development and along with found NGOs WII, WWF have decided to visit the area to access the ground situation.

As minister MOEF Jairam Ramesh has been stating, there is an urgent need to create a nodal body with statutory powers to evaluate such projects before they are taken up.

A harmonious balance needs to be found between preserveing forests,wildlife and development which is so key for the survival of future generations.

Wildlife corridor in Uttarakhand faces trouble

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/environment/flora-fauna/Wildlife-corridor-in-Uttarakhand-faces-trouble-/articleshow/5029841.cms

Goa forest officials continue flip flop - Tiger killing Case set for quiet burial

An old saying in Hindi translated roughly means , You need to lie a 100 times to cover up one lie. This in essence sums up investigations into unforunate case of a tiger killed in Goa in March this year. After trying to hush up the incident from the very beggining, Goa Forest officials now are just waiting to close the case. Perhaps the case should also rest in peace like the soul of the dead tiger. Consider the series of events:

A tiger is killed in Mhadei wildlife sanctuary in Goa. As reports of killing reach wildlife officials they go into denial mode asking for proof rather than initiating investigations. Local journalists take pictures of the carcass which is published in newspapers. Even after that wildlife officials put the onus of getting 'concrete proof' on the journalists rather than taking congnizance of the pictures. After much media pressure investigations are initiated but vital time is lost which allows the villagers who had killed the tiger to burn the carcass. Some evidence is finally found in the form of burnt skin and sometiger parts which wildlife officials claim are from the killed tiger and samples are sent to WII Dehradun for confirmation. In the meanwhileowner of farm where the tiger parts are found is arrested by forest officials while the villagers ostracize a local who led the invetigation team to the burnt carcass. A local court releases the accused on bail since there is no evidence to even prove a tiger was killed let alone proof of the accused being involved. After being let off, the accused files a case against the forest officials for harrassment and torture in custody and bizzarely the local cops file an FIR against the forest officials. And in the final death knell to the case WII said last week that samples sent for investigation donot even belong to a tiger indicating the sample was changed before it reached them. With no evidence, no witness, investigators being harrassed it is unlikely the case will move any where. After systematically destroying the case Goa Wildlife officials have decided to form a board which will study the WII report and might advise future course of actoin which might as well be shutting the case for good.

Goa not to close tiger killing case as of now: CCF

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/environment/flora-fauna/Goa-not-to-close-tiger-killing-case-as-of-now-CCF-/articleshow/5023319.cms