Top court: Stop ‘rape’ of Aravalli
Saturday, 20 February 2010 02:51
New Delhi, Feb. 19: Concerned over the continued "rape" of the fragile Aravalli hills close to national capital, the Supreme Court on Friday banned mining activities by 157 miners in a huge tracks in Rajasthan, while directing the preparation of satellite images of the entire Aravalli ranges spread over 50,000 sq km in the state.
A forest bench, headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and comprising Justices S.H. Kapadia and Aftab Alam, directed the Rajasthan government to fully cooperate with the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in carrying out the survey of entire area with the help of Forest Survey of India (FSI).
The Forest Survey of India would prepare the satellite images of Aravalli rages, mainly falling in Rajasthan where reckless mining is going on, the top court said.
It further directed the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority to provide Rs 5 crores for the satellite imaging of the area.
The court banned the mining by the 157 miners.
Age Correspondent
http://netindian.in/news/2010/02/11/0005300/panel-set-study-implementation-forest-rights-act
Panel set up to study implementation of
NetIndian News Network
The Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs have jointly set up a high-level committee of experts to study and assess the impact of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 with regard to the sustainable management of forest resources.
The committee will be chaired by Dr Devendra Pandey, former Director General of the Forest Survey of India. It has been asked to submit its report within three months.
According to an official press release, the committee will look at the issues of implementation, sustainable forest management and the protection/settlement of the rights of forest dwellers in detail.
Other members of the committee include the Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun, Mr H S Pabla, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Madhya Pradesh, the Inspector General of Forests (Externally-Aided Projects), Dr A K Jha, Commissioner, Tribal Research & Training Institute, Pune, and Mr A K Srivastava, Director, Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
The committee also includes Mr Ashish Kothari, Director, Kalpavrikash, Ms. Harini Nagendra, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment,
The release said the terms of reference of the committee were as follows:
1. The Committee shall study in detail the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and its impact on Forest Management.
2. The Committee shall recommend necessary policy changes in the future management of the forestry sector in
3. The Committee shall identify the role of stake holders and beneficiaries in the conservation, restoration and regeneration of forests. It shall also prescribe measures and guidelines to involve these stake holders in forest restoration and regeneration.
4. The Committee shall identify opportunities for and recommend measures to ensure convergence of various beneficiary oriented programmes for the forest rights holders taken up by various line departments in the states.
5. The Committee shall define a new role for the Forest Department vis-à-vis the Gram Panchayat for forest conservation and regeneration.
6. Any other matter which the Committee feels is ancillary or incidental to the purposes of its establishment.
The Committee shall have the power to co-opt any specialists that it may feel necessary and in furtherance of the purposes of its establishment.
NNN
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20100228&filename=croc&sec_id=10&sid=1
Don’t just count the trees
Quality of forests is as important as tree cover
Recently, there has been considerable satisfaction and pride in official circles over the fact that the country has added to its green cover. Officials seem to believe that the rate of deforestation has been arrested. On the face of it, it certainly seems to be a matter of joy. But a deeper understanding of the situation is needed before we congratulate ourselves. In this context it is important to examine the difference between increase in tree cover and improvement in the quality of forests.
Plantations can increase tree cover.
But they cannot replace natural forests—especially their biodiversity. Natural forests in sound health provide ecosystem services to a region. Improving the quality of natural forests is far more complex than increasing tree density. For example, replacing moist evergreen forests of the Northeast and the
Biodiversity is not a mere assemblage of a number of genera and species. It is location-specific and provides a template for essential ecosystem functions like stream flow, nutrient recycling, pollination mechanism, fertilizing mechanism and micro-climate. In any ecoysystem there are interactions among species and their physical and chemical environment; there is always interdependence between different living organisms.
There is also competition for space, nutrients and reproduction. Many small species die and others are born. Ecologist D W Schindler once wrote, “Destabilizing forces are important in maintaining productivity and biogeochemical cycles and even when these features are perturbed, they recover rather rapidly.” Plantations hamper such interaction.
Replacing natural forests with plantations may alter the ecology of a region and degrade biodiversity
Some ecological services derive from the structure and terrain of an eco-zone, others are not directly dependant on structure. For example, while water supply, soil formation, food production, raw materials, forest recreation and cultural importance derive from a particular structure of the ecosystem, carbon dioxide sequestration and climate regulation do not depend on the structure of an eco-zone.
The tree cover in the country has indeed increased but the quality of dense forests or even moderately dense forests is declining in almost every state. The recently published Forest Survey of India reports note as much.
All this must also be seen in light of the fact that Indian forests account for 2 per cent of the world’s forests. This 2 per cent area supports 17 per cent of the world’s population. This is one of the lowest per capita forests area in the world. The legal area under forests does not guarantee you the required ecological stability and ecosystem service unless the health of the natural forests is in sound condition.
Of course, forest produce is important in a country where a large number of people live below the poverty line and are directly or indirectly dependent on natural resources. But it is seldom realized that forest produce can be transferred from one part of the country to another, not ecological resources.
There is no escape from land husbandry to arrest the deteriorating natural resource base. An anonymous writer aptly wrote in an Indian Forester article in September 1889: “Deprived of the aid and resources derived from forests, agriculture languishes and becomes barren and unfruitful.”
B K P Sinha is former principal conservator of forests of Uttar Pradesh
http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/feb/15/budget-2010-environment-ministry-seeks-rs-2200-cr.htm
Environment ministry seeks Rs 2,200 cr
February 15, 2010 11:30 IST
The ministry of environment and forests has sought an outlay of Rs 2,200 crore (Rs 22 billion), a 17 per cent hike from Rs 1,880 crore (Rs 18.8 billion) in 2009-10, in the forthcoming Budget.
The increased outlay, the ministry says, will be used for river and lake cleaning and pollution control.
"We will be happy if we get around Rs 2,200 crore (Rs 22 billion), though we don't expect much from this budget," environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh [ Images ] told Business Standard.
"Though the allocation was good this year, our existing budget had been cut by Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) to around Rs 1,600 crore because of poor financial position."
The actual plan expenditure of the ministry amounted to Rs 1,349.73 crore (Rs 13.49 billion) in 2007-08 and Rs 1,490.39 crore (Rs 14.9 billion) in 2008-09, against approved outlays of Rs 1,351 crore (Rs 13.51 billion) and Rs 1500 crore (Rs 15 billion) respectively.
He said that the ministry would focus on conventional environment areas, where they were under invested, like lake and river cleaning and effluent control.
The ministry expects a twofold increase at Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) for its flagship programme on cleaning the
The estimated cost of stopping all discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluent into the
For lake cleaning, the ministry plans to increase its expenditure almost five times to Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) in 2010-11. During the Eleventh Plan period (2007-12), the expenditure on restoration of lakes was Rs 440 crore (Rs 4.4 billion), compared to Rs 164.49 crore (Rs 1.64 billion) in the Tenth Plan period and Rs 11.38 crore (Rs 113.8 million)in the Ninth Five Year Plan.
In the last Budget, the allocation under
Effluent treatment is another area of focus for the ministry, where it seeks an outlay of Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million) per sewage treatment plant, up from Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) in the previous budget.
In the last Budget, the government had launched eight national missions as per the National Action Plan on Climate Change, besides setting up the National Ganga River Basin Authority.
There was also a special one-time grant of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) for Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun.
Also, Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million) each was allocated to Botanical Survey of
Though forests were 'underfunded' in previous years, the ministry does not seek increased allocation for forest conservation.
The total expenditure on forests was almost doubled to Rs 8,300 crore (Rs 83 billion) in 2009-10 from Rs 3,700 crore (Rs 37 billion) in 2008-09.
"There has been an unprecedented increase in funds for forest conservation and such an increase has not taken place in any sector," said Ramesh.
Emphasising that there is unspent money in forest conservation, Ramesh said the challenge was to improve the adaptive and managerial capacities.
"We must bother about the absorptive capacity, as the state governments have not made any new recruitments. To be on the radar screen, there needs to be a critical level of funding and now, we have to make sure that the absorptive capacity is there."
Green guard ring for Rajgir hills
Sanjeev Kumar Verma, TNN, Feb 20, 2010, 04.30am IST
The fencing work would be followed by plantation of saplings in the foothills and aerial seeding on top of the hills for regenerating the lost green cover. These hills suffered a lot in the past due to stone mining. Though such activities have been effectively checked in the last few years, excessive pressure of human and cattle population has not allowed the flora to grow at the desired pace, which, in turn, has also affected the wild animals, including bears and porcupines.
“We are preparing a plan to undertake the fencing work and also to restore the lost flora. We would soon submit a proposal in this regard to the headquarters,” Nalanda divisional forest officer (DFO) Rakesh Kumar told TOI. Funds to the tune of over Rs 50 crore would be required to undertake this Herculean task, he added.
During his vist to Rajgir in December last year, chief minister Nitish Kumar had directed forest officials to come up with a plan to protect the green cover of these hills.
DFO Kumar said that the project would be completed within two to three years. He added that efforts are on to complete the fencing work by the end of this year or latest by the end of the first half of next year. “Everything depends on early sanction of funds,” he added.
The Nalanda DFO said that he wants to start the aerial seeding work from the coming rainy season so that the upper tracts of these hills are able to regain some of the lost flora even before the fencing work is completed. “We would continue the aerial seeding work for two years,” he added. The forest department would also undertake plantation of 15 lakh saplings in the foothills.
The completion of fencing work would not only put an effective check on unbridled intrusion of human and cattle in the forests covering these hills, but would also allow the forest department to regulate the tourist flow.
“There would be a limited number of entry points to the hills once the fencing work is completed. All the entry points would be manned by our personnel to regulate the flow of tourists,” Kumar said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Jairam-GM-voice-finds-no-echo-in-PM-panel/582152
Jairam GM voice finds no echo in PM panel
Ravish Tiwari
His colleagues in the Government, Ministers Sharad Pawar, Prithviraj Chavan and Kapil Sibal disagreed with him and called for science, not ideology, to dictate Government policy on genetically modified (GM) foods. Now the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) has joined in — it has taken a stand more nuanced than that of Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.
Ramesh made a distinction between food and non-food and public and “private” research to justify his indefinite “moratorium” on Bt Brinjal. The PMEAC doesn’t see it in such black and white terms.
“After the success of Bt Cotton and the benefits it has brought to the farmers in Gujarat and
Central govt envoys to assess Munnar encroachments
Web posted at: 2/20/2010 5:37:42
Source ::: The
By John Mary
Thiruvananthapuram: Even as partners of the ruling Left coalition in Kerala are wrangling among themselves over protection and conservation efforts in the picturesque hill town of
Federal Minister of State for Forest and Environment Jairam Ramesh said the technical team from his ministry, led by Additional Director-General of Forests P B Gangopadhyay, would be in Munnar within the next three weeks to review the extent of ecological damage on account of unabated encroachments on the hills over the years.
Declaring Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve in Palakkad district, bordering Tamil Nadu, Ramesh said the team would also look at violations of forest and wildlife laws.
But he made it clear that the Federal government would not be weighed down by petty political considerations in Munnar.
“Encroachers would be evicted and stringent action taken, no matter what their political affiliations are,” he said.
Dwelling on the larger picture, the minister said the country’s forest cover was fast depleting. “We cannot afford to lose any more forest,” he said.
The Federal Government’s intervention in Munnar comes in the backdrop of the aborted eviction drive launched by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan in 2007 and the controversial resumption of the drive one month ago, in the face of stiff resistance offered by the local leaders of parties, cutting across the political divide.
Federal intervention
With Ramesh announcing the Federal intervention in Munnar, the State government would have to act fast, though carefully and resolutely, lest it should be seen as being merely strong on rhetoric and weak in action.
On a related issue of environment concern, Ramesh iterated the government’s commitment to protect the Athirapally forest areas in Thrissur district by denying permission for a power project, on the basis of reports filed by the Biodiversity Board and the Forest Department. He compared Athirapally to
“We gave the approval to Kerala State Electricity Board in July 2007 to set up a 163MW hydro-electric project at the famous Athirapally waterfalls but it led to all-round protests. Environmentalists accused us of sounding the death-knell to a unique biodiversity stretch”, he said.
Ruling out any political compulsion in the decision to revoke the Federal permission for Athirapally, he said it was based purely on scientific opinion. He was referring to Achuthanandan’s allegation of a conspiracy behind the withdrawal of approval to the power project. The Athirapally proposal had passed through many ups and downs ever since it was mooted as an alternative to the
The Federal Ministry of Environment and Forests cleared Athirapally in 1998 but it led to a spate of court cases. In 2005, it received the environmental clearance following an environment impact assessment done by Water and Power Consultancy Services (
But the Kerala High Court revoked the Federal clearance and directed the Electricity Board to obtain a fresh environment impact assessment. The project was cleared for a third time by the Federal government recently, but after Ramesh took over he ordered a re-look at the project, leading to the Federal government’s final “No” to the long-pending proposal.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20100220/1054/tnl-haryana-minister-fined-for-encroachi.html
Haryana minister fined for encroaching on forest land
Sat, Feb 20 01:20 PM
Gurgaon, Feb. 20 -- The Special Environment Court, Faridabad has slapped a penalty of Rs.17,700 on Haryana Minister of State Gopal Kanda for encroaching upon a protected forest strip and constructing a cemented driveway just outside his house, located on Laal Sadak in Civil Lines Colony. The minister, who also owns a private airlines firm, deposited the amount after the same court issued non-bailable warrants against him for not appearing on hearing dates in the case.
Kothi No. 436/16 owned by Gopal Kanda, who holds the portfolio of home, sports and youth affairs and industries & commerce in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government, was one of the 32 properties in the locality which were challaned by the forest department in May 2008 for violating the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 1980 and the Indian Forest Act (IFA) 1927.
The house has a cemented driveway and a garden that has been fenced on a protected forest strip. Both activities are tantamount to violation of forest laws, a senior official from the forest department.
Kanda told Hindustan Times he was innocent and that although he had deposited the penalty amount, he had not received any summons related to the case against him. "I did not have any idea of the summons from the
May be these summons were handed over to workers engaged in the construction work at my house in 2008," said Kanda. "I did not know that Civil Lines is the only locality in Gurgaon that has a protected forest strip where constructing a cemented driveway is prohibited," he added.
A forest official who did not want to be identified said, "Kanda probably remained unaware that his property faced trail in the Faridabad Court and did not appear for the hearing dates following which the court issued non-bailable warrants against him," the forest official said. In a related development, DK Sinha, Conservator of Forests,
".
http://news.oneindia.in/2010/02/19/indiansto-decide-use-of-gm-crops-jairamramesh.html
Indians to decide use of GM crops: Jairam Ramesh
Friday, February 19, 2010,7:01 [IST]
He said this in his inaugural address at the two-day 'Workshop of Tree Cultivation for Dryland Farming'.
"Of late, newspapers have been accusing me of being anti-science. But I am not against science, in fact, I am its strong supporter," said Ramesh.
"I have done what I had to do. As the Minister of Environment and Forests, I have taken a decision based on the information that was available to me. I have consulted state governments; I had seven public consultations involving about 8000 people in different parts of the country. I have talked to about 60 scientists, both in
Ramesh also announced that cloned eucalyptus and casherina trees, which are used as fuel wood, would be planted in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Earlier this month, Ramesh blocked the release of Bt Brinjal, saying that until more research is done to remove doubts surrounding the consumption of GM foods, there was not enough public trust to support the introduction of such crops.
Talking about the diminishing tiger population in
"Let me tell you, they are under extreme threat and there is a crime syndicate operating in India, there is a real estate syndicate operating in India, there's a mining syndicate operating in India, which wants to finish off all the tigers," Ramesh added. (ANI)
http://sify.com/news/Mining-banned-in-157-of-261-Aravali-mines-news-National-kctuucchcca.html
Mining banned in 157 of 261 Aravali mines
2010-02-19 20:20:00
In a significant order aimed at halting further devastation of the Aravali range due to rampant mining, the Supreme Court Friday banned mining in 157 out of 261 mines in the region and ordered comprehensive satellite photography of the mining-ravaged region.
'All these years, as far as possible, we have been trying to balance developmental works with forest and environmental conservation. But when we have reached in 2009, we have seen total mining leases,' said a bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, while halting mining in 157 mines, spread over 15,000 square km in 15 districts of Rajasthan.
'It has led to a fatal impact on macro-level. There is total devastation of the forest,' observed the bench, which also included Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justice Aftab Alam.
While ordering satellite imagery of the Aravali hills, the bench said the project would be jointly executed by the Forest Survey of India and the Rajasthan government in consultation and coordination with the apex court-appointed Central Empowered Committee mandated with the rask of assisting the apex court in preserving the flora and fauna of the country and save it from degradation.
The bench said the project would be Funded by Compensatory Afforestation Fund Managemnat and Planning Authority, created by corpus collected for diversion of forestland for non-forest uses.
It said the state would spend Rs 5 crore out of Rs 50 crore that had been given to it from the CAMPA fund as per an apex court order on August 14, 2009.
The bench ordered suspension of mining in those mines by those who had applied for renewal of their licenses and their plea was pending with the state government. The bench, however, allowed the remaining 104 out of total 261 mines whose licenses had been renewed by the state government.
The bench ordered halting of mining in 157 mines after casting aside diverse interpretations of its earlier order, dated Dec 16, 2002, by various parties, including the state government and the miners.
The order laid down certain stipulations for renewing the licenses and allowing the continued mining. The state government contended that the 2002 order merely restrained it from granting new licenses for mining and not from renewing them.
Senior counsel Harish Salve, appointed by the court to assist it in adjudication of the green issues, contended that the 2002 order was a blanket ban on both renewal and grant of new licenses.
n Indo-Asian news Service
'Let scientists decide what is good for us'
Express News Service
First Published : 19 Feb 2010 02:45:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 19 Feb 2010 07:58:15 AM IST
He released eight new cloned varieties of eucalyptus and casuarina, developed by the
“Of late, newspapers have been accusing me of being anti-science. But I am not against science, in fact, I am its strong supporter,” said Ramesh.
On forestry, Ramesh said his ministry was bringing modern science into forestry.
From this year onwards, every year, the ministry would conduct an Indian Forestry Congress and the first one would be held in Dehradun in December, he said and added: “The second one will be held in
Releasing the cloned varieties, Ramesh said these new varieties would be used initially in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The parents of the new clones were from
Talking of cloning, Ramesh, in a lighter vein, said that the students from
“But we have brought the Australian parents (tree varieties) and produced Indian children (cloned varieties),” he said jocularly.
Patents, weapon of biopirates of the West
Gokul Chandrasekar
First Published : 18 Feb 2010 04:44:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 18 Feb 2010 06:29:41 AM IST
CHENNAI: Biodiversity is in the air: 2010 is being observed as its international year and an international biodiversity summit will be held in
A rising concern among activists is biopiracy: situations where corporations from the developed world claim ownership of or take unfair advantage of the genetic resources and traditional knowledge of developing countries.
This issue was addressed by Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh here on Thursday, when, speaking at a conference of environmental scientists, he indicated that
Explaining the extent of the problem, he said, “Around 2,000 patents are granted in the
Highlighting the access and benefit- sharing contract between the National Biodiversity Authority and Pepsi in the
http://indiatribals.blogspot.com/2010/02/fighting-for-forest.html
Fighting for the forest
Dithabai and his family has lived in the forest for generations. He's been active in the forest rights movement for 30 years. Photo:
Winding paths through dense vegetation and three hillocks leads to the
In the past, the tribals colloquially referred to Adivasis have faced large-scale displacement from their ancestral land by an exclusionist policy of conservation followed by the state. But with the historic Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Right (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 things are fast changing.
Dithabai has been associated with the Forest Land People’s Movement for over a decade now. The Movement launched in 1995 by Astha Sansthan, DanChurchAid’s partner in Rajasthan, has its work spread extensively in three blocs in
Ditabhai’s testimonial
“Two generations of my family have lived here on these hills. I have 15 bighas (five bighas is two hectare) of land and we grow crops on it; different kinds of lentils but mainly corn. We can often afford to sell some parts of the produce, but not without ‘cutting in our stomachs’. I have eight people to feed in my family. What I grow is never enough though, so I have to travel far away to work on other people’s land.
In the past forest officials used to dictate terms to us. They would beat us up, abuse us and harass us. They would demand money or a chicken to leave us alone. But all that has changed now. Now nobody comes any more.
I know of the new forest law. I learnt of it in a camp organized by Astha. I think a lot of people will get their rights with this new forest law. Most of us were completely ignorant in the past not knowing how to demand what is rightfully ours. But now I know about the Forest Right Act and how to fill in claims for land.
This is our forest and for long, we have faced a lot of harassment for living here. Our livelihood is dependent on this forest. Why should we harm it? There are no animals here, but I do believe that man and animals can stay amicably without any conflict.
Under the banner of the
Photo:
I have been involved with the Jungle Zameen Jan Andolan for 30 years now. I have been all over for rallies and public meetings: in Kotda, Jaipur and
I believe it is important for people to take ownership over their lives and I think this Act provides us with a scope for working for our development. It is now up to us. We must grab this opportunity with both hands.”
By Priyanka Mukherjee, Documentation Officer, DanChurchAid,
http://www.igovernment.in/site/india-set-forest-genetics-bureau-36930
It will protect the forest genetic reserves of the country
Published on 02/18/2010 - 10:14:56 AM
Chennai:
"This is an effort to protect the forest genetic reserves of the country. It will be set up by Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education," Minister of State for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh said here.
He was here to address the International Conference on Bio Diversity in Relation to Food and Human Security in a Warming Market organised by the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF).
He said
"As per the agreement PepsiCo has deposited Rs 37 lakhs with NBDA and the amount will be distributed to the people in the
According to him climate change and protection of bio-diversity should converge as both are interconnected.
He said developing countries want a legally binding climate control measures but are against such a measure with regard to biological resources. On the other hand the developing countries are not for legally binding climate control measures but want legal protection for biological resources.
According to him
"
According to him the central government along with the governments of Kerala, Karnataka and
http://www.indiatalkies.com/2010/02/india-focusing-sustainable-bioresources.html
Chennai, Feb 17 –
‘This is an effort to protect the forest genetic reserves of the country. It will be set up by Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education,’ Minister of State for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh said here Wednesday.
He was here to address the International Conference on Bio Diversity in Relation to Food and Human Security in a Warming Market organised by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF).
He said
‘As per the agreement PepsiCo has deposited Rs.37 lakhs ($80,000) with NBDA and the amount will be distributed to the people in the
According to him climate change and protection of bio-diversity should converge as both are interconnected.
He said developing countries want a legally binding climate control measures but are against such a measure with regard to biological resources. On the other hand the developing countries are not for legally binding climate control measures but want legal protection for biological resources.
According to him
‘
According to him the central government along with the governments of Kerala, Karnataka and
IANS
http://steelguru.com/news/index/MTMzMDcx/Coal_projects_in_India_to_be_cleared_in_150_days.html
Coal projects in
Tuesday, 16 Feb 2010
It is reported that the Indian government is exploring speeding up environment and forestry clearance for coal mining projects in a bid to enhance production and narrow the widening demand-supply gap.
The Prime Minister Energy Coordination Committee the apex policymaking body for the energy sector is giving shape to a proposal that envisages forestry clearance for new coal mining projects within 150 days and for renewals in 120 days. In addition, environment clearance for coal mining projects would be given within 60 days while the project that has already received forestry clearance would be eligible for automatic environmental clearance.
At present forestry clearance for coal mining projects take anywhere between 3 and 6 years and environmental clearance between 3 and 8 months delaying projects and resulting in loss of production. The coal demand and supply gap has already widened to about 70 million tonne annually and is expected to cross 80 million tonne mark by 2011-12.
A coal ministry official who wished not to be identified said the fast tracking of clearances would help enhance in a big way coal production and also meet the growing need of the industry, particularly the power sector. The Prime Minister’s Office has also pushed for giving time-bound forestry and environment clearance for coal projects on a priority basis to ensure adequate supply to domestic user industries.
The government is also likely to allow the ministry of environment to give automatic clearance to mining projects that have complied with mandatory afforestation clause and have made payment towards net present value of mining area. Companies would be given freedom to carry out extensive survey of mining area by drilling more boreholes without having to secure forestry clearance.
At present, only 2 boreholes per square kilometer are allowed, which mining companies feel is too less to ascertain the true potential of a mine. As against the projected demand of about 604 million tonne per annum, the total coal availability during the current financial year is about 534 million tonnes per annum.
The production gap of 70 million tonnes per annum is likely to go up to 81 million tonnes per annum by 2012 fiscal. A large part of this shortfall would be met through imports. The imported coal is priced about 50% more than the domestic coal and therefore puts sectors relying on this route at disadvantage.
(Sourced from Economic Times)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8516931.stm
Big business leaves big forest footprints
VIEWPOINT
Andrew Mitchell
Consumers around the globe are not aware that they are "eating" rainforests, says Andrew Mitchell. In this week's Green Room, he explains how many every-day purchases are driving the destruction of the vital tropical ecosystems.
Burning tropical forests drives global warming faster than the world's entire transport sector; there will be no solution to climate change without stopping deforestation
When was the last time you had a "rainforest picnic"? Or even, perhaps, an "all-day Amazon breakfast"?
Next time you are in a supermarket picking up a chicken sandwich for lunch, or fancy tucking in to a hearty breakfast of eggs, sausage and bacon before setting off for work, spare a thought for the Amazon.
A new report by Forest Footprint Disclosure reveals for the first time how global business is driving rainforests to destruction in order to provide things for you and me to eat.
But it does also reveal what companies are doing to try to lighten their forest footprint. Sadly, however, the answer is: not much, at least not yet.
Consumers "eat" rainforests each day - in the form of beef-burgers, bacon and beauty products - but without knowing it.
The delivery mechanism is a global supply chain with its feet in the forests and its hands in the till.
Because of growing demand for beef, soy and palm oil, which are in much of what we consume, as well as timber and biofuels, rainforests are worth more cut down than standing up.
Supermarket sweep
Governments, which claim to own 70% of them, create prosperity for their nations through this process, but poor forest communities need their forests for energy and food.
The report shows that the EU is the largest importer of soy in the world, much of it coming from
It also shows that after
Soy provides cheap food to fatten our pigs and chickens, while palm oil is in everything from cakes and cookies, to that fine moisturiser you gently rubbed into your cheeks this morning.
I have become a bit of a bore in supermarkets, challenging my kids to hunt for soy lecithin or palm oil (often disguised as vegetable oil) on product labels. You should try it! The stuff is everywhere.
The gargantuan farms of
Further north, thousands of square miles of rainforest natural capital is going up in smoke each year, often illegally, to provide pastureland for just one cow per hectare to supply beef hungry Brazilians or more prosperous mouths in China and India.
Many of the hides from these cattle then go into the designer trainers, handbags or luxury car upholstery that wealthy markets have such an appetite for.
Few Europeans know that their fine steak au poivre or choice after dinner mints might have an added expense on the other side of the world that unknown to them, is altering life on Earth.
None of this would matter but for three things. Firstly, evolution is being changed forever. Most of us, sadly, can live with that.
Secondly, burning tropical forests drives global warming faster than the world's entire transport sector; there will be no solution to climate change without stopping deforestation.
Finally, losing forests may undermine food, energy and climate security. Yet saving them could, according to UN special adviser Pavan Sukhdev's forthcoming review on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), reduce environmental costs by $3-5 trillion per year.
Oh yes, let us not forget the 1.4bn people, many of them the world's poorest, who depend on these forests for their survival and who cannot afford to lose them, even if we can.
Full disclosure?
So what can be done? The first thing is to encourage business to mind its "forest footprint".
The impact global business has on deforestation will be a key factor in halting deforestation in the future. No amount of hand-wringing in the UN climate talks will alter action on the ground unless the drivers of global deforestation are also tackled.
Whilst poverty is possibly the largest of these drivers, so is the way in which business drives the conversion of cheap forest land to feed their global commodity supply chains - all the way to you and me.
This is why we launched the Forest Footprint Disclosure project last year: to invite companies to first recognise their impact on forests and then disclose what they were doing about it.
Such a request might be ignored by giant businesses if it were not for the fact that investment managers, with at least $3.5 trillion of assets, also wanted to know and backed our disclosure request with their names.
Why? Because it is their money that may be at risk if the companies do not clean up their act.
In 2009, Amigos da Terra's report Time to Pay the Bill, and Greenpeace's Slaughtering the Amazon highlighted the cattle industry as a driver of climate change responsible for the bulk of
This resulted in the withdrawal of a $60m loan from the World Bank's International Finance Corporation to
In June 2009,
In July, sportswear manufacturer Nike said it would not accept leather in its products from
And in October, JBS Friboi, Bertin, Mafrig and Minerva - the largest players in
Daniel Azeredo, a Federal Public Prosecutor in
'Extraordinary time'
The effects are rippling all the way up the supply chain - well, to you and me again.
Consumers and businesses can play their part by demanding that their suppliers know where their "Forest Risk Commodities" come from. But will they?
Evidence from certification schemes shows that consumers care but not enough to get their wallets out.
If business cannot secure a premium for the extra costs of producing the good stuff, why should they bother?
I believe, however, that we are at an extraordinary time in human history when all that could be about to change.
What all this is evidence of is a quickening step in a remarkable journey that will result in nothing less than the transformation of the 21st Century economy.
Curbing emissions from deforestation, which was the outsider in the UN negotiations just two years ago, has moved to become the front-runner. It is now widely recognised that forests offer the quickest, most cost-effective and largest means of curbing global emissions between now and 2030.
So, are we at a tipping point in history where this could actually happen?
Conservation will never out-compete commerce with a global population rising toward nine billion.
Feeding and fuelling our growing world is one of the greatest opportunities of the 21st century, but sending natural capital up in smoke and squandering ecosystems that support wealth creation in the process will, ultimately, be counterproductive.
Businesses that understand this will be the rising stars of the future. Our report provides some of the first insights into who the potential winners and losers may be, and which business are setting the pace today.
Investors will want to spot them.
Andrew Mitchell is Chairman of the Forest Footprint Disclosure project and Executive Director of the Global Canopy Programme
The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website
