Programmes to Increase Forest Cover

Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, an organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change carries out the assessment of forest cover of the country biennially and the findings are published in India State of Forest Report (ISFR).

The forest cover of the country has increased by 1540km² as compared to the last assessment i.e., ISFR 2019.

Further, the overall increase in forest cover in the last one decade is 21,762km².

Various schemes are being implemented by the Central and State Governments/Union Territory Administration include, the National Afforestation Programme (NAP) and Green India Mission (GIM) being implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change.

National Afforestation Programme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for regeneration of degraded forest and adjoining areas in the country. The scheme has been implemented through three-tier institutional setup of State Forest Development Agency (SFDA) at State level, Forest Development agency (FDA) at Forest Division level and Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) at Village level.

Green India Mission is one of the eight Missions outlined under the National Action Plan on Climate Change.

It aims at protecting, restoring, and enhancing India’s forest cover and responding to climate change by means of plantation activities in the forest and non-forest areas.

Afforestation activities are also taken up under various programmes/funding sources such as Compensatory Afforestation Funds under Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), afforestation activities under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), National Agroforestry Policy and Sub-mission on Agro-forestry (SMAF), National Bamboo Mission and National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture.

In addition to above, State and UT Governments have their own afforestation and reforestation programmes. Almost every State has activities under social forestry, which largely focuses on tree planting in the areas outside forests.