BENGALURU: The state government is considering introducing charges for ecosystem services in urban areas to raise money for mitigating conflict and helping people, particularly farmers, staying in the fringes of forest areas.
Officials in the forest department said the aim is to increase awareness among people of lung spaces, forest areas and the conflicts rising due to increased urbanisation. If the plan goes ahead, Karnataka will be the first state to introduce such charges, the amount of which is yet to be finalised.
The forest department has sought suggestions from scientists, conservationists, experts, and citizens on the proposal.
Officials said service charges will be used for the welfare of the people staying around forests. This is one of the many conflict mitigation plans that have been listed by the department.
The officials said that before implementing it, a scientific database is being created. There is a need to understand what ecological services that forests and lung spaces provide and the value of it. “Though the idea is good, but how to levy it like in the form of a green cess or in the form of a tax is yet to be finalised,” another senior official said.
‘Govt seeks time to undertake study to list out eco-sensitive areas’
Sources said that this was one of the suggestions in the Kasturirangan report, which was rejected by Karnataka last month.
The government has sought a year’s time from the Centre to undertake a field study to list out the eco-sensitive areas and prepare a special list of the villages that need to be included and deleted from the list. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, Kumar Pushkar, said that the idea of people paying for the eco-system services is still in the initial stages.
He said a policy decision will be taken after a lot of deliberation. This is one of the future steps of mitigation that is being explored, he told TNIE on Thursday at the sidelines of the day-long workshop, Bangalore Conclave, as a part of the Wildlife Week celebrations.
