Following is an excerpt from a PTI news report.

The Orissa government today said it would set up a Forest Academy and expedite the process of giving forest land rights to people living in jungles.

"The Forest Academy will train officials in forest management and protect wild life with more professionalism," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said at a conference of Divisional Forest Officers (DFO) here.

He said Orissa has 20 lakh hectares of poorly managed and degraded forests. Restoration of tree cover and increased vegetation on these degraded forests would make the government’s anti-poverty programmes successful.

The forest department had drawn up a plan for the next five years to give forest cover to ten lakh hectares of land.

Farm forestry and agro forestry had huge potential to improve the income of households, he said.