Awareness workshop for East district JFMCs and EDCs

GANGTOK, 24 Feb: After Joint Forest Management Committees [JFMCs] and Eco- Development Committees [EDCs] from the West and South districts, the Department of Forests, Environment and Wildlife Management Department conducted a one-day awareness workshop for the East district committees here at Forest Secretariat today.
Next week, the same workshop will be organized for North district JFMCs.

Today’s workshop intended at ensuring that the committees understood the constitution, their roles and responsibilities which were detailed through power point presentations presented by the resource persons which included the CCF (T) and Member Secretary of the State Forest Development Agency [SFDA], the Chairperson of the SFDA, Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Gut Lepcha, DFO (Wildlife), North, MR Rai and Joint Director (Wildlife), Karma Legshey.
The JFMCs and the EDCs are village level forest agencies registered with the Territorial Division of the Forest Department for Reserve Forests, Khasmal, Gaucharan, and community-based lands outside the protected areas. Its roles include checking against illegal felling, poaching, removal of grazing, guard against theft of forest produces and wildlife and reduce fire incidents.
Further, the committees are also entrusted the responsibilities to regulate collection of minor forest produce like bamboo shoots, nettle leaves, chindey leaves, edible ferns, wild fruits, medicinal plants etc allotted to the JFMC/EDC and to organize its marketing. Also to organize SHGs in the villages for infrastructure and marketing of village handicrafts based on forest produce like bamboo, broom and wood carvings. These committees have also been given the task of preparing micro plans for management of the identified degraded forest areas and execute the works based on the guidelines, to carry out the entry point activities in the village which are of highest priority to be used as village community asset.
The committee representatives were also told of other functions which the JFMCs could carryout in consultation with forest officials in the interest of protection and sustainable management of forest resources and also about the various schemes which were introduced by state and central agencies which they could adopt to ensure smooth and timely execution of the forestry works taken up by them  and also to motivate every member of the committee in the activities carried out by them at the village level.
[ANAND OBEROI]