CB Bureau‘The challenge of the forest officials is to find a way to
regenerate forests even while recognizing biotic pressures. Forest officials
have never reconciled to the Forest Rights Act; they still consider it a threat,’
Jairam Ramesh said while inaugurating the Forest Ministers of Southern States conference
in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
The minister insisted that the first big transformation he
had in mind was the attitude of forest officials towards tribals and forest
dwellers. He said that forest officials would be living in a fool’s paradise if
they thought that they could keep people and cattle out of forest areas.
According to the minister, if forest conservation efforts
across the country were to be strengthened, there should be a fundamental
three-pronged transformation in the functioning of forest departments.
The minister also insisted that a transformation was needed in the
recruitment system of forest departments.
Considering there has not been major recruitments at forest
guards and rangers levels, the average age of forest guard in the country is 53
years. ‘It is to such a man that we are entrusting the protection of the
forest,’ said Ramesh.
Ramesh also highlighted the Green India Mission, which
intends to increase forest cover in the country by five million hectares. He
said that the mission would be carried out through gram sabhas and joint forest
management committees, the legally sanctified bodies of gram sabhas.
The minister also confirmed that the Forest Act 1927 needed amendments
as there were certain ‘colonial relics’ in it. Asserting that local communities should be
in the forefront of conservation efforts, he acknowledged that ‘because of certain clauses in the
act, thousands of cases have been slapped on tribals.’
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