<GREEN CRUSADERS CEC on Government apathy towards the plight of the victims of Forest droughts>
There is no mention of forest droughts in either the Crisis Management Plan for the current drought or the country's Manual for Drought Management, even though most official committees set up to manage droughts have representation from the Forest Department. Five states- Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Chattisgarh, Odisha and Uttarakhand are the worst affected areas. Forest products, which serve as a subsistence income source for cultivators, has witnessed a decline of 40%. The reasons why we should worry about forest droughts are -
There is no mention of forest droughts in either the Crisis Management Plan for the current drought or the country's Manual for Drought Management, even though most official committees set up to manage droughts have representation from the Forest Department. Five states- Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Chattisgarh, Odisha and Uttarakhand are the worst affected areas. Forest products, which serve as a subsistence income source for cultivators, has witnessed a decline of 40%. The reasons why we should worry about forest droughts are -
1. Almost 220 million Indians are dependent on forests, most of them are among the country's poorest.
2. Their livelihood depends largely on Minor Forest Produce(MFP) , a Rs.6000 crore informal economy.
3. MFP contributes 25-50 per cent of their food requirements.
Government drought Management policy neither recognizes Forest droughts nor compensates loss of income from MFP.
4. Climate change is further impacting Forest ecology, disrupting growth of MFP.
GREEN CRUSADERS condemns the Government apathy towards the plight of the victims of Forest droughts and demands that the latter be compensated enough so as to enable them to withstand the vagaries of nature. The Central Executive Committee of the GREEN CRUSADERS is also of the opinion that the government can very well undertake this responsibility, when it is so well-disposed to the coterie of corporate houses in terms of facilitating their interests at the cost of the public exchequer.
2. Their livelihood depends largely on Minor Forest Produce(MFP) , a Rs.6000 crore informal economy.
3. MFP contributes 25-50 per cent of their food requirements.
Government drought Management policy neither recognizes Forest droughts nor compensates loss of income from MFP.
4. Climate change is further impacting Forest ecology, disrupting growth of MFP.
GREEN CRUSADERS condemns the Government apathy towards the plight of the victims of Forest droughts and demands that the latter be compensated enough so as to enable them to withstand the vagaries of nature. The Central Executive Committee of the GREEN CRUSADERS is also of the opinion that the government can very well undertake this responsibility, when it is so well-disposed to the coterie of corporate houses in terms of facilitating their interests at the cost of the public exchequer.
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