By News18

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Kochi, Sep 17 (PTI) The World Teak Conference, hosted by India for the first time, commenced at a convention centre here on Wednesday, a KSCSTE release said.
The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) release said that experts and delegates from over 40 countries are participating in the event, which focuses on the challenges and opportunities in teak production and trade.
In his inaugural speech, Kerala’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Rajesh Ravindran IFS highlighted the key challenges, including climate change, shortage of quality planting materials, unscientific afforestation programmes and wildlife interference, faced by the sector.
“These challenges can be transformed into opportunities through the adoption of scientific methods, proper training, and international cooperation,” he is quoted as having said in the release.
K B Singh, Inspector General of Forests, SU Division, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, who was the chief guest, in his speech stressed the importance of sharing both successes and failures from teak cultivation experiments across India to avoid repeating past mistakes.
“The recent initiatives in forest management have led the ministry to revise the working plan code to incorporate modern concepts and digital aspects. A digitised national forest inventory has been created for better data utilisation in planning,” he said, according to the release.
He also added that the MoEF introduced a national transit permit system to ease timber movement, and a forest and tree certification scheme has also been introduced.
Sheam Satkuru, Executive Director of the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), called for wide-ranging discussions on teak production, marketing, and the livelihoods of those dependent on the sector, the release said.
The other participants in the event included Hugh C A Brown, the CEO of Forestry Commission Ghana, Honda Tomoyuki, Deputy Director, Wood Products and Trade Office Forestry Agency of Japan and Michael Kleine, Senior Advisor, IUFRO HQ, Austria, it said.
The three day conference will feature sessions on economic assessments, value addition, market development, and building legal and sustainable supply chains for teak, it added. PTI HMP HMP KH