Udhagamandalam: Digitizing the Ministry of Forestry has received a shot in the arm with the sanction of the State Government of Rs 33.1 Crore for the same thing.
According to Supriya Sahu, the head of the government secretary and forest secretary, the government has issued orders on Thursday, according to sanctions to digitize forest boundaries and daily activities in other forest departments.
He said the government’s orders were issued after thoroughly digitizing the proposal by the head of the main forest conservator to develop a strong geo-spatial database for the management of forest habitat and better wildlife, project formulation, and depiction of wildlife corridors, sensitive eco-zones and wetlands , among others.
The head of the main forest conservator has proposed a differential global positioning system survey to prepare a geographical database with boundary details, a centralized special database for the department, computerized end-to-end departmental and cell documentation activities at the head office in Chennai.
The government’s order says digitalization work will be carried out in two years and allocates Rs 6.1 Crore for current fiscal and other Rs 27 Crore for 2022-23.
“Digitalization will help improve forestry practices.
Differential Global Positioning Systems are an increase in the global positioning system that provides an increase in position accuracy,” Supriya said.
He said digitalization of forest boundaries would help easily identify encroachment and monitoring real-time incidents such as forest fires and shrinkage of wildlife.
“It will also facilitate climate impact assessment, green cover monitoring and wildlife corridors, and geographical marking of all forestry development activities, forest assets and human-animal conflicts.” Supriya said this step will help assess the inventory of forest resources on the basis of the two annuals to develop a measurable reporting and verification system for sustainable forest management, and evidence-based decision making.
The government first announced the decision to digitize the Forestry Department on the floor of the Assembly on September 3, 2021.
K Kalidass, managing the Trustee of Osai, a NGO, “This is a welcome step.
But there are other areas that need to be considered.
For example, cleaning weeds like Lantana Camara In the forest reserve area and facilities provided for frontline staff.
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