After drawing international acclaim, Indonesia's moratorium on forest clearing has proved hard to implement, as special interests whittle down the area protected under the agreement, environmental groups say.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is likely to veto some controversial aspects of a forest bill passed by the Congress last month as pressure mounts against the text days before the country hosts a large UN conference on sustainable development.

The bill, a revision of Brazil's Forest Code, grants partial amnesty to landowners who had illegally cleared some of their forests until as recently as 2008, relaxing the legal requirements for reforestation of these areas.

SHILLONG: The bio-diversity hotspots in the State are vanishing at a faster rate, cautioned State Principal Secretary of the Department of Forest and Environment MS Rao.

Giving an overview of the bio-diversity of the State during an official programme to mark the International Bio-diversity Day in Shillong, Rao said today, “Our State has bio-diversity hotspots to talk about but their richness is under threat.”

Indonesia's progress in reforming its forestry sector will not be sufficient to meet its pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 26 percent by 2020, Norway's environment minister said on Tuesday.

Indonesia imposed a two-year moratorium on clearing forest last May under a $1 billion climate deal with Norway aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation, despite resistance from some government departments and from resource firms looking to expand in the archipelago.

TURA: The GSU, North Western Zone, has expressed its concern over the rate of deforestation through rampant felling of trees in Garo Hills by saw mill owners exporting wood to other states. The GSU through a communiqué stated that there is increased illegal installation and operation of saw mills in areas with dense forestation which is depleting forest cover at an alarming rate. These saw

SHILLONG: Biodiversity in the State is under threat due to deforestation, habitat destruction, mining and encroachment of forest areas, said Minister of Forests and Environment, Prestone Tynsong.

Tynsong was speaking during a function organized to mark the International Biodiversity Day at the U Soso Tham Audotorium here on Tuesday. This was the first that Meghalaya joined the Biodiversity Day celebrations.

Indonesia's government said on Monday it would protect a strip of peatland in Aceh province at the centre of an international storm over palm oil development, in a case that had become a test of the country's commitment to halt deforestation.

Indonesia imposed a two-year moratorium on clearing forest last May under a $1 billion climate deal with Norway aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation, but the former governor of the country's westernmost Aceh province breached the ban by issuing a permit to a palm oil firm to develop the peatland.

JATAH (East Khasi Hills): The proposed Umngot Hydel Power Project has suffered a major setback with majority of the land owners having unanimously decided to oppose the project.

Land owners hailing from the nine villages who are going to lose their agricultural land on account of the proposed hydel power project have taken a unanimous decision to oppose the project during a public meeting held at Jatah village near Mawkynrew village in East Khasi Hills on Saturday.

CHENNAI: Forest and tree cover has declined in Tamil Nadu and the State has not prepared its own forest policy even though five years have passed since a recommendation to do this was made by the National Forest Commission, says a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

The report - released by principal accountant generals Suhasini Srinivasan and S Murugiah at the office of the the Principal Accountant General on Wednesday - states that the state achieved only 22 per cent forest and tree cover against the target of 25 per cent, by 2007.

FOREST WEALTH: The policy process to arrest forest degradation needs to be modernised with up-to-date techniques and civil society participation that is timely and proactive
Use Eye in the Sky to Manage Forest Cover
Employ remote sensing and spatial maps to bettertrack forest degradation with sound initiatives
HARINI NAGENDRA