New Delhi, Aug 4 (IANS): Folk musicians from across the country will celebrate the country's bountiful forests at a two-day festival of folk music at the India Habitat Centre here Aug 6-7.

The third Lok Sangeet Sammelan, an annual showcase of the country's rich folk culture, will highlight the synergy between cultures of the indigenous people living in the forests and the verdant environment which nurtures them.

The music festival coincides with 2011 being proclaimed by the UN as the International Year of Forests, a spokesperson for the India Habitat Centre said Thursday.

The troupes have been drawn from the various forest regions of our country.

On Aug 6, the focus will be on the northeast, the hills of Uttarakhand and the Sunderbans. A band from the the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh will sing folk songs from the forests of central India.

"Folklore can play a vital role in a more sensitive understanding of ecology in the form of tales, fables, songs, ballads, dances, music and poetry," the spokesperson said.