New Delhi: The National Forest Policy (NFP) envisages the national goal to have a minimum of one-third of the total land area under forest or tree cover and two-thirds of the area under such cover in the hill and mountainous regions of the country.
As per the latest India State of Forest Report (ISFR) – 2023 published by Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, the total tree and forest cover of the country is 8,27,356.95 square kilometre which is 25.15 per cent of the geographical area of the country. The tree and forest cover of the country has increased by 1445.81 square kilometre as compared with the previous assessment report of ISFR 2021.
The protection and management of forests is primarily the responsibility of the State government. The Government has formulated adequate legal and regulatory frameworks at national and state levels, which regulate the protection, conservation, and management of the forests of the country. The major central level policy and legislations concerning the management and conservation of forests include the National Forest Policy, 1988, Indian Forest Act, 1927, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam 1980, and Biological Diversity Act, 2002, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Kirti Vardhan Singh, in a written reply, informed Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
"To bring more areas under green cover, the government is implementing various schemes such as such as National Mission for a Green India (GIM), Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats, Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), Nagar Van Yojana (NVY) and Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI)," Singh added.
The schemes primarily support ecological restoration through afforestation in and outside forest areas, forest landscape restoration, habitat improvement, soil and water conservation measures and protection, the minister said.
The tree plantation campaign 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 5, 2024, to undertake plantation activities across the country.
