Reforestation

Reforestation

Subject – Environment

Context – In 2010, India had 31.3Mha of natural forest, extending over 11% of its land area. By 2020, it lost 132kha of the natural forest, equivalent to 67.3Mt of CO₂ of emissions, according to the Global Forest Watch, which monitors forests and provides information on changing patterns worldwide.

Concept –

• With an intent to combat high pollution levels and a sharp rise in carbon emissions, the Indian government has been pursuing reforestation through schemes such as the National Mission on Green India, the National Afforestation Programme, compensatory afforestation, and plantation drives across states.
• In the Union Budget 2020-21, the overall allocation for the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, increased from Rs. 26.5 billion in the revised estimate of 2019-20 to Rs. 31 billion for 2020-21.
• Furthermore, at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP 2015), India, under the Bonn Challenge, committed to restoring 13 million hectares (Mha) of degraded and deforested land by 2020 and an additional 8 Mha by 2030.

National Mission on Green India

• The National Mission for a Green India or the commonly called Green India Mission (GIM), is one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).
• It was launched in February, 2014 with the objective to safeguard the biological resources of our nation and associated livelihoods against the peril of adverse climate change and to recognise the vital impact of forestry on ecological sustainability, biodiversity conservation and food-, water- and livelihood-security.
• It aims at protecting, restoring and enhancing India’s diminishing forest cover and responding to climate change through adaptation and mitigation measures. It envisages a holistic view of greening that extends beyond tree planting.
• At the national level implementation is done by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
• The State Forest Development Agency to guide the mission at the state level.
• At the district level, the implementation to be done by the Forest Development Agency.

National Afforestation Programme

• The overall objective of the National Afforestation Programme (NAP) scheme is ecological restoration of degraded forests and to develop the forest resources with peoples’ participation, with focus on improvement in livelihoods of the forest-fringe communities, especially the poor.
• The scheme is implemented by three tier institutional setup through the State Forest Development Agency (SFDA) at the state level, Forest Development Agency (FDA) at the forest division level and Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) at village level.
• NAP is a centrally sponsored scheme which is implemented with the fund sharing pattern of 60: 40 percent between Centre and States wherein the sharing pattern for Northeastern and hilly States is 90:10.

Miyawaki Forests

• The Miyawaki method, developed by a Japanese botanist after whom it is named, involves planting saplings in small areas, causing them to “fight” for resources and grow nearly 10 times quicker.
• It originated in Japan, and is now increasingly adopted in other parts of the world. It has revolutionised the concept of urban afforestation by turning backyards into mini-forests.