Forest on gifted lands to be preserved

After initiating several steps to preserve and conserve the ecologically-sensitive spots, the Western Ghat Task Force has come forward with plans to preserve and conserve the natural forests on the ‘inam’ lands.

A team consisting of the officials, experts and others led by the task force chairman Ananth Hegde Ashisar visited the ‘inam’ (gifted) land at Dori village in Dharwad taluk and received first hand information about the landscape, biodiversity, natural resources and the people of the region on Saturday.

Later, speaking to the reporters, Hegde said the forests on ‘inam’ (gifted) lands do not belong to the department of forests but they were a kind of ‘Revenue Generating Forests’.

The natural forests on these lands had been preserved and conserved by the local people for long. “But, it required some concrete steps for preservation and conservation of these forests in the days to come,” he said.

Around 400 acres of ‘inam’ land forest in Dori was as significant as the natural forests. The task force team had conducted the preliminary visit to the area.

It would study all aspects involved with the forests on ‘inam’ lands and submit a report to the government regarding their conservation and management with local people’s participation, he said. Besides, the task force had initiated steps for the preservation and conservation of the jack fruit verities. The programme ,which will be implemented through the Dharwad circle of the Department of Forests, would be launched at the Forest Research Centre in Tirakanahalli near here on Monday.