CHENNAI: The Forest Ministers of southern States will meet in Bangalore to discuss, among other things, joint action to manage trans-border areas and promote eco-tourism. The Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Goa will take part in the conference, slated for Thursday and Friday. The first Ministerial conference was held in November last year.
A senior Forest Department officer said the Ministers would discuss protection of forest resources, constitution of a secretariat to implement resolutions adopted at the conference and enforcement of the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006, besides considering the use of fire arms by Forest Department personnel while discharging their duty. Also on the agenda were encroachment, illicit felling, poaching, removal of restrictions on felling and transport of certain tree species, inter-State cooperation to check forest fires, eradication of ganja cultivation, and sandalwood smuggling.
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