NATIONAL MISSION FOR GREEN INDIA - GOVERNMENT SCHEMES

News: States fall short of targets to improve forest cover, quality

 

What's in the news?

       India is lagging behind in the targets to increase the number and quality of tree- and forest-cover plantations set in the Green India Mission, according to data accessed via the Right To Information Act.

 

Key takeaways:

       As per the India State of Forest Report-2021, forest and tree cover in the country increased by 2,261 square kilometers since the last assessment in 2019. India’s total forest and tree cover was 80.9 million hectares, which accounted for 24.62% of the geographical area of the country.

       The report said 17 States and Union Territories had more than 33% of their area under forest cover.

       Madhya Pradesh had the largest forest cover, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.

       The top five States in terms of forest cover as a percentage of their total geographical area were Mizoram (84.53%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.33%), Meghalaya (76%), Manipur (74.34%) and Nagaland (73.90%).

 

Issues:

       However critics have pointed out that the increase in green cover was almost entirely via commercial plantations, that in an ecological sense - couldn’t compensate for natural forests and their biodiversity and, being monocultures, were susceptible to pest attacks.

 

National Mission for Green India:

       National Mission for a Green India (GIM) is one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change.

       It is implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

 

 

Features:

       The target under the Mission is 10Million Hectares (Mha) on forest and non-forest lands for increasing the forest/tree cover and to improve the quality of existing forest.

       Improving tree cover is critical to sequester carbon and bolster India’s carbon stocks as part of its international commitments to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

Objectives:

       It aims at protecting, restoring and enhancing India’s diminishing forest cover and responding to climate change by a combination of adaptation and mitigation measures.

 

Mission Goals:

       To increase forest/tree cover to the extent of 5 million hectares (mha) and improve quality of forest/tree cover on another 5 mha of forest/non-forest lands.

       To improve/enhance ecosystem services like carbon sequestration and storage (in forests and other ecosystems), hydrological services and biodiversity; along with provisioning services like fuel, fodder, and timber and non-timber forest produces (NTFPs).

       To increase forest based livelihood income of about 3 million households.

       It will be implemented on both public as well as private lands with a key role of the local communities in planning, decision making, implementation and monitoring.

       To increase carbon sequestration by 50–60 million tonnes annually by the year 2020.