Raj, French agency come together for forest conservation

Jaipur: The forest department will take up forestry and biodiversity development work in coming eight years in 13 districts with the support of France Development Agency.
Head of Forest Force (HOFF) D N Pandey on Wednesday informed that project is christened as Rajasthan Forestry and Biodiversity Development Project.
“In this project, Rs 1,693.91 crore will be spent in 13 districts in eight years, of which 70% share of Rs 1,185.28 crore will be borne by France Development Agency and 30% share of Rs 508.62 crore will be borne by the state government,” said Pandey
Under the project, along with plantation in 55,000 hectares area, 55 lakh saplings will be distributed in the outer areas apart from the authorised areas of the forest department. Along with this, extensive development work will be done in Bharatpur's Keoladeo National Park, Bisalpur, Tonk and Kota's Conservation Reserve, Kota's Bhainsrodgarh Sanctuary and Bundi's Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary and Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve to create an environment conducive to uninterrupted life of wild animals. The project covers about 610km in forest areas.
The support of French agency for forest conservation efforts reflects growing international consensus and cooperation towards reducing the impact of climate change.
The project in Rajasthan, however, also has its roots in empowerment and association of local communities with sustainable development and thus proposes ecotourism and other measures.