New Delhi: The United States government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), celebrated the 2015 International Day of Forests today by launching the “Forests are Life” campaign.  The campaign, developed in partnership with JC Decaux and Vertiver, will connect people to the beauty and multidimensionality of forests through graphics inspired by Indian folk and tribal art.

Launched under the Partnership for Land Use Science (Forest-PLUS), a joint program of USAID and the Government of India’s Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, the campaign will include 200 large outdoor advertising sites in New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai with messages on conservation of biodiversity, forests, and supporting communities that depend on them.

The event also marked the launch of the “India Forest Portal,” a first-of-its-kind website focusing on private sector engagement in the forestry sector.  The portal will share information about India’s forests, highlighting their many contributions, their conservation and management needs, and public-private partnership models on forestry management.  IORA Ecological Solutions and Vertiver developed and designed the portal.

The event also included a discussion on Corporate Forest Responsibility (CFR) and “Investing in Forests”.  Forest-PLUS is working to use CFR as a mechanism to engage Indian corporates in forest conservation and management.  By challenging companies to invest a portion of their Corporate Social Responsibility resources in forest conservation, the charter sets the stage for a concerted private sector-led effort to promote forest and biodiversity conservation.

Samuel Kotis, Deputy Minister Counselor for Economic, Environment, Science, and Technology Affairs, U.S. Embassy, Dr. Anmol Kumar, Director General, Forest Survey of India, Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change,  and Dr. Arbind Prasad, Director General, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), presented at the event.