Reddy for taking up income generating forest works

Hyderabad, July 6 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today directed the forest department officials to take up more income generating activities to benefit the weaker sections of the society and tribes living in forest areas.

The income of majority of the poor in rural areas was meagre and the forest officials should try to involve more number of such people in protecting forests by simultaneously providing them gainful employment, he said while reviewing Vana Samrakshana Samithis (VSS).

The Chief Minister directed the officials to wean away the tribes from cultivating Podu and instead attract them to VSS activities and encourage them to cultivate income generating plants like bamboo and subabul.

An assessment of the change in forest density, done through remote sensing by the Geomatics wing of the Forest Department, revealed that the area under dense forest cover had increased from 10,302 sq km to 15,396 sq km. Under the open forests category, the area had increased from 18,033 sq km to 24,129 sq km. Area under scrub forests and blanks had decreased from 35,477 sq km to 24,287 sq km, official sources said.

There were around 25 lakh members in the 8,663 VSS in the State engaged in joint forest management, out of which 47 per cent were from Girijan tribes.

The World Bank officials, who inspected the works taken up under phase-I of the VSS programme in the State recently, appreciated the development and sanctioned second instalment for phase-II programme and was ready to give the third instalment also after two years, the sources said.

UNI