India to launch forest satellite by 2013

New Delhi, August 13

India will launch a dedicated forest satellite in 2013, which will monitor the country's forest cover on a daily basis, Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh recently told the Rajya Sabha.

He said India was adding to its green cover, which should be monitored on a day-to-day basis instead of the current periodic exercise. A family of forestry satellites would be launched to make real time monitoring possible, he added. Replying to supplementary questions, the minister said country had gained over three million hectares of forest in the last 10 years. "India is one of the few countries where green cover is increasing. In Brazil, three million hectares of forest is cleared every year but in India we have gained three million hectares of forest in the last 10 years," Ramesh said.

While replying to supplementaries on a question on protection of environment, Ramesh objected to calling the native tribal of Andaman and Nicobar as “primitive tribes”. “We must stop using the term primitive, use the term original inhabitants,” he said, adding that Great Andamanese, Onges, Jarawas, Sentinelese and Shompens were identified tribes from the islands.

“They are away from the mainstream. They are original Negroids who migrated from Africa, how the local administration saves them is a challenge,” he said, stressing that the big challenge was to ensure livelihood and protection to endangered tribal groups.“Their numbers have come down to around 2,000”.

Ramesh said the Island Development Authority led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also looking at the issue of providing protection to them.