nagpur giving a new approach the ministry of environment and forests moef has framed new national working plan code 2014 for scientific management of forest as per requirement of present days the working plan wp code for management of forest and wildlife aims for environmental stability biodiversity monitoring and management restoration of ecological balance of the disturbed areas protective functions of the forest resources and other socioeconomic benefits based on nontimber forest products ntfps the new code figured in the review meeting of wp department called by head of forest force hoff swh naqvi on tuesday the meeting was specially called after toi expose about shabby affairs in the states wp wing pccf production management anil mohan said it was a routine meeting called to discuss new code and progress about wps after april 1 2014 all the wps will be written as per the new code mohan said the preparation of wps whose preliminary working plan reports are already approved before april 1 may be continued as per the proviso of earlier national code of 2004 under the new code the concept of sustainability in forest management will imply to not only sustainability of productive functions but also environmental functions soil water conservation carbon sequestration etc and socioeconomic benefits meeting livelihood and basic needs to forest dwellers and other forest dependent communities now involvement of forest fringe communities in the protection and management of forest resources through microplans and ecodevelopment plans has become imperative and must find linkages to the working plan and therefore provisions have been made to integrate aspects of forest management which are considered important for assessing sustainability accompanied by a set of related quantitative qualitative or descriptive attributes under the new system working plan preparations will also need to capitalize on the gains of technological advancements like remote sensing gis gps computational and analytical systems available for real time monitoring of forest dynamics forest officials said the new code will have to cover biodiversity conservation and development community forest management fringe forest management water resources management soil and water conservation forest fires and protection forests and climate change carbon sequestration and mitigation forest inventory survey and mapping grid based sampling design growth data and carbon sequestration and linkage with national forest inventory trees outside forest the moef has directed that considering the important nature and specialization of the work pccf should ensure that adequate core staff posts for the wp unit are created and provided the officers and the critical staff of working plan unit should not be transferred during the preparation of working plan in case adequate regular staff is not provided the wpo should be empowered to engage subject matter experts for field work and ministerial staff for maintenance of record and budget on contract the moef has asked to set up a standing consultative committee of the state under the chairmanship of hoff having representation from the state including chief wildlife warden for preparation of working plans the experts from