We are pleased to bring to you the first anniversary issue of INFORM. In the past year, INFORM's readership has grown from some two dozens to approximately 500 individuals and organisations in India and outside.

We are constantly trying to make INFORM more useful and reader-friendly based on the feedback we receive. From this issue onwards, we are introducing a printed version of the bulletin, mainly for readers who do not have access to electronic mail. The printed version is available on request.

In our news section called Headlines, we carry the sad news of the murder of Sanjay Kumar Singh, a forest officer of the 1991 batch of the Indian Forest Service, in the Rohtas district of Bihar. The nation, especially the forestry fraternity, has been shocked at the killing of an officer who tried to stand up against the forest mafia.

Another important recent news is the ban imposed on tree felling in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by the Supreme Court. Like many other environment related orders, this one was also the result of a Public Interest Litigation filed by concerned NGOs. We look forward to your comments on the same.

In our endeavour to provide up-to-date information and to initiate debate on forest policy issues, we have included a summary of the Steering Committee Report on Environment, Forests and Wildlife for the Tenth Five-year Plan (see section Report).

Expectations are running high as the world prepares for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to be held in Johannesburg in August-September 2002. In our In Focus section, we provide a glimpse of the summit preparations and expected outcomes. India's preparation for the summit is also discussed in brief. RUPFOR is working with other like-minded institutions to draw attention at the summit on participatory forestry issues. A satellite meeting on good forest governance focussing on community forestry was held in Bali, Indonesia, on June 1-2 to coincide with PrepCom IV, the final crucial preparatory committee meeting before the summit. For further details, see www.recoftc.org/forgov.html

We have profiled India's National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBSAP) process in our Profile section. NBSAP is arguably the world's largest participatory planning exercise for biodiversity conservation.

We hope you will like this issue. We look forward to your feedback.

Sushil Saigal
Coordinator - RUPFOR

Mamta Borgoyary
Editor - Inform