Context:
The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate change has released the “National Working Plan Code-2023” for scientific management of forests and evolving new approaches.
About National Working Plan Code:
- It was first adopted in 2004 and amended in 2014 to act as the guiding principle for the preparation of the working plan for scientific management of different forest divisions of our country.
- It deals in detail with the essentials of forest management planning, incorporating the principles of sustainable management of forests which includes
- Extent and condition of forest and tree cover
- Maintenance, conservation and enhancement of biodiversity including wildlife, forest health and vitality,
- Role of State Forest Departments: For the first time, it has prescribed state forest departments to engage in continuous data collection and its updation in a centralised database.
- Incorporating Indian Forest Management Standard in the code:
- It takes into account the diverse forest ecosystem in our country, while trying to bring in uniformity in management.
- It codified the Standards for Sustainable Forest Management based on long term experiences of scientific forest management in India and in sync with international criteria and indicators.
- It would facilitate the State Forest Departments to measure effectiveness of the management practices against prescriptions of Working Plans.