In quest of a Better Methodology: Updating the Forest Survey Monitoring Process of West Bengal in compliance to the forthcoming REDD+ Regime

In the context of forestry management, Monitoring and Evaluation is considered an important tool in assessing and strengthening legal compliance. It also helps in taking remedial measures targeted towards achieving the management objectives and in the improvement of the plantations qualitatively. The 7^th meeting of the UN-REDD Policy Board held in 2011 at Berlin, laid out approaches towards development of a Monitoring and Measurement, Reporting and Verification (M&MRV) mechanism in the implementation of REDD+ activities in distinct national contexts. All countries are required to align themselves progressively with this protocol to make them fully compliant with the REDD+ requirements. In this context, this article examines the recent modifications in the forest monitoring and evaluation initiatives in the state of West Bengal, India and explores ways towards further development in these parameters so as to align itself suitably with the requirements for the REDD+ readiness compliance.