Forest Minister Aravind Limbavali on Saturday said the department will launch a scheme to plant saplings of fruit-bearing trees on 100 acres in Belthangady taluk on June 5 as a pilot programme. The initiative will be replicated in all districts from next year, the Minister said.
He was speaking to reporters after holding a meeting with department officials, people’s representatives and Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari D. Veerendra Heggade at Dharmasthala. Mr. Heggade will launch the programme, the Minister said.
Directing Mangaluru Deputy Conservator of Forest V. Karikalan to be the nodal officer for the scheme, Mr. Limbavali asked him to procure the required number of saplings and seeds. The department should raise forests on the lines of Miyawaki urban forest with public participation, he said, adding that necessary training to personnel should be given by May 15 before its symbolical launch on June 5.
In his introductory address, Mr. Heggade said it was everyone’s responsibility to leave the universe in a sustainable condition for the next generation. It becomes more significant at a time when the entire world was looking at India for guidance, he said.
Mr. Heggade further said he wrote to the Forest Minister recently to encourage planting of saplings of fruit-bearing trees to discourage human conflicts with wild animals entering habitation due to scarcity of food in forests. Mr. Limbavali responded positively to the suggestion and held Saturday’s consultation meeting, he said. Mr. Heggade suggested saplings of trees namely mango, jackfruit, bamboo, amla, kokum, Indian blackberry etc.
Belthangady MLA K. Harish Poonja, MLC K. Prathap Simha Nayak, Chief Conservators of Forests Sanjay Mohan and Prakash Netalkar, Assistant Conservator of Forests N. Subrahmanya, Dharmasthala Rural Development Project Executive Director L.H. Manjunath and others were present.
