ITANAGAR, Oct 29: Environment & Forests Minister Mama Natung emphasized the importance of field visits by officers to keep track of ground-level implementation of programmes.
The minister said this during a meeting he and his advisor Kumsi Sidisow convened here on Thursday with the chairpersons and vice chairpersons of all the boards and corporations under the environment & forests department.
“Field visits will result in an outcome-based mechanism, which will bridge the gap,” the minister said.
Sidisow on his part highlighted the potential of medicinal plants and spices in the state, which he said “can become a viable economic opportunity for the locals.”
Officers of the State Bamboo Resources & Development Agency, the State Biodiversity Board, the State Pollution Control Board, the State Medicinal Plant Board and the Forest Corporation Ltd made PowerPoint presentations on the status of their institutions.
Presently, the state is in the process of nominating two biodiversity heritage sites (BHS): one in Shergaon (West Kameng) and another in Hong village (Lower Subansiri).
“BHS is a designation to denote unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems having richness of wild as well as domesticated species, past pre-eminence of biological components represented by fossil beds and having significant cultural, ethical or aesthetic values and are important for the maintenance of cultural diversity,” the department informed in a release.
