CPREEC - EIACP Programme Centre, Resource Partner on Ecological Heritage and Sacred Sites of India

New Delhi: Speaking on the Business Forum on Responsible Forest Management for Sustainable Growth, Chief Guest, Dr. S S Negi, Director General of Forests & Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Government of India emphasised the importance of forest for carbon sink and livelihoods. Forest land, currently covering about 23% of India’s geographical area, is essential to meet country’s target for climate change mitigation under Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) by 2030. He added that 300 million of population is dependent on forest for livelihoods. Dr. Negi also spoke about the new draft Guidelines on Private Sector Participation for Afforestation on Degraded Forest Land and urged industries to adopt and undertake afforestation in their premises or nearby areas. He thanked CII for providing comments on the guidelines before its finalisation. 

Earlier Mr. Alastair Monument, Regional Director, FSC Asia Pacific gave the Opening remarks in the inaugural session of the Business Forum, he reiterated the importance of sustainable management of forest for stopping deforestation, land degradation, climate change mitigation, provision of ecosystem services and community benefits. Mr. Monument shared the vision of FSC to reach 20% target of FSC certified products in world’s trade by 2020. Presently there are 300 companies and 1 million hectares of forest land that are FSC certified in India. 

Ms. Seema Arora, Executive Director, CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development spoke on the role of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to bring understanding to business on forest and ecosystem services provided by forest cover. Over the past two years, CII has incubated the India Business & Biodiversity Initiative (IBBI) to mainstream the values of conservation and sustainable use across business operations and their value chain. 

The need to bring in partnerships with industry and other institutions for sustainable forest management was stressed by Mr. Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO, WWF-India. Since 1994 WWF has been involved in taking forward certification of sustainable forest management. Mr. Singh highlighted the key present challenges being faced in forestry sector such as negligence of indigenous plantations along with protection of plantations and wildlife. 

Dr. T R Manoharan, National Representative, FSC India delivered the Vote of Thanks. The inaugural was followed by sessions on market access and business linkages in green forest produce; responsible forestry in furniture and construction industry; and sustainability in pulp, paper, printing and packaging. 

CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CII-CESD) in partnership with Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) is taking leadership in defining pathways for forest sector to contribute to a greener economy. Both organisations are committed to promote sustainable landscapes and responsible forest management to secure forest values for both present and future needs. By seeking innovative ways to improve standards and ways of working, the partnership develops tools and spreads knowledge to a variety of stakeholders. The Business Forum on Responsible Forest Management for Sustainable Growth has been organised by CII & FSC on 17th November at New Delhi

Source: http://indiaeducationdiary.in/Shownews.asp?newsid=36618