Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday told officials of the Forest Department to prepare a detailed roadmap to increase Himachal Pradesh’s forest cover to 31 per cent by 2030.
While chairing a review meeting of the Forest Department here, the Chief Minister said the state’s current forest cover stands at 29.5 per cent and should to be improved through planned and sustainable efforts.
“Global warming has become a major global challenge and its harmful effects are clearly visible. Keeping this in mind, the state government is giving high priority to environmental conservation,” Sukhu said.
He added that around 16,376 square kilometres of land in Himachal is snow-covered, barren, or mountainous, making plantation in these areas is not possible.
The Chief Minister instructed the department to identify suitable plantation areas in every district and prepare a phased plan to achieve the target. He said the plantation drive should focus on native species, fruit-bearing plants, and medicinal plants. He emphasised that equal importance must be given to protecting existing forests and creating new ones, with active participation from local communities.
"The state government has launched the 'Rajiv Gandhi Van Samvardhan Yojana' to promote community participation in forest plantation and conservation. Under the scheme, plantation was carried out over 924.9 hectares during the previous year. A total of 285 Mahila Mandals, 70 Yuvak Mandals, 59 Self Help Groups and 13 community-based organisations actively contributed to this initiative" he added.
Under the scheme, the state government gives financial assistance of Rs 2.40 lakh for plantation over two hectares, along with annual incentives linked to plant survival rates. Sukhu said the response from the participating groups has been encouraging.
He said a target has been set to carry out plantation over 5,000 hectares in the next financial year. Of this, 3,376 hectares have already been identified, while the process is underway for the remaining 1,624 hectares.
The Chief Minister also reviewed the progress of other schemes being implemented by the Forest Department.
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