COMMERCIAL logging in India鈥檚 natural forests has been banned by the
country鈥檚 Supreme Court. 鈥淓very state government must promptly ensure total
cessation of all such activities,鈥� said Justices J. S. Verma and B. N. Kirpal in
a ruling delivered shortly before Christmas. Logging will be allowed only in
private plantations, or where the felling has been explicitly approved by the
government.
Although the Indian environment ministry鈥檚 official reports claim that the
country鈥檚 forests are not declining, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
says that India lost 0.6 per cent of its forest cover per year during the 1980s.
Most of the losses were in old-growth forests, which are hotspots of
biodiversity, while commercial plantations have increased.
鈥淕iven the way our forests are being ravaged, something drastic had to be
done,鈥� says Rajiv Dhawan, a lawyer who acted for the state government of
Arunachal Pradesh during the case.
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