The panel, which was appointed following directives from the Supreme Court, has identified mangrove forests, degraded forests and virgin forest in the hands of individuals and local communities, the communidades.

``Normally these private forests are extensions of government-forest land which were given on long leases during Portuguese times,'' a member of the state environment panel told Express Newsline. According to him, private land under plantation or cultivation would be excluded from the protection plan. According to Supreme Court directives, the nature of the forest land will remain undisturbed though the ownership will continue to be in private hands.

The committee, which is to submit its interim report to the Supreme Court shortly, has classified several hectares ofland as private forests even though these were earmarked for development. ``We found that these areas were ... forests,'' the panel member said. Among the projects which are affected include a housing township by the Tatas at Betion across the Mandovi from Panaji, a commercial complex by the state-owned Economic Development Corporation at Patto-Ribandar, and an industrial estate.

According to Richard D'Souza, chief conservator of forests, the Supreme Court guidelines stipulate that lands with 75 per cent forestry species must be categorised as forest land. As per these parametres, forest area in Goa increased from 1053 sq km in 1972 to 1252 sq km in 1997. This includes more than 2000 hectares of mangrove forests on land held by the government, individuals, port authorities, temples, churches, etc. In all, nearly 34 per cent of land in Goa comes under forests following the Supreme Court directives.

Official sources say the government is keen on promoting social forestry programmes on degraded forest landowned by the communidades. The government is likely to give them an option of either carrying out afforestation programmes on their own or handing over the degraded land to the state for the purpose.

According to environmentalists in the state, firewood continues to be a popular cooking medium in Goa, despite easy access to eco-friendly alternatives like LPG. Most restaurants and bakeries use firewood to fire their ovens. Officials say, social forestry programmes are essential to curb such indiscriminate destruction of forests.