Lok Sabha Question No. 85 (STARRED), answered on 2020-02-07
Subject: Social Forestry Schemes
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Talari Rangaiah

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO: 85

TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2020

## Social Forestry Schemes

## *85 . SHRI TALARI RANGAIAH:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to promote plantation in various metropolitan cities in the country through recognised NGO's under social forestry schemes;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the  details  of  various  initiatives  undertaken  by  the  Government  to  preserve  and develop the forest reserves in various metropolitan cities in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a) to (c) A statement has been laid on the Table of the House.

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## Statement  referred  to  in  reply  to  part  (a)  to  (c)  of  Lok  Sabha  Starred Question  No.85  due  for  reply  on  07.02.2020  by  Shri  Talari  Rangaiah regarding Social Forestry Schemes

- (a) to  (c)  The  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  (MoEFCC) encourages  plantation  in  the  country  including  various  metropolitan  cities  through various programmes and schemes such as Nagar Van Udyan Yojana, School Nursery Yojana, etc. which promotes urban forestry, tree plantation on vacant lands and bunds on  farm  lands  etc.  by  involving  local  communities,  educational  institutions,  local bodies,  etc.  Further,  the  following  steps  taken  by  the  Government  contribute  to preservation  and  development  of  forest  areas  in  the  country  including  in  the metropolitan cities:
- i. For preservation  and protection of forest &  wildlife, various laws including  the  Forest  (Conservation)  Act  1980,  Indian  Forest  Act,  1927, Wildlife Protection Act 1972, and other central/state laws as applicable to a  State/UT,  are  implemented  by  the  respective  State  Government  /UT Administration. The Ministry also provides financial supports to the States /UTs under Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme for protection against forest fire.
- ii. The MoEFCC is implementing two major afforestation schemes namely National Afforestation Programme (NAP) for tree plantation in degraded forests  through  people's  participation  and  National  Mission  for  a  Green India  (GIM),  under  which  in  addition  to  other  sub-missions,  there  is  a specificsub-mission  for  enhancing  tree  cover  in  urban  andperi-urban areas.  An  area  over  2  million  hectare  was  sanctioned  for  taking  up afforestation in the States/Union Territories (UTs) with an investment of about Rs.3874 crore under NAP since its launching year 2000 and under GIM an amount of about Rs. 300 crore has been released to States/UTssince 2011-12 to 2018-19. During current financial year (201920) an amount of Rs. 128 crores has been released to various States for taking up plantations.
- iii. The  MoEFCC  encourages  plantation/  afforestation through people's participation  under  School  Nursery  Yojana  and  Nagar  Van  Udyan Yojanathat were started in 2015-16. An amount of Rs. 1.54 crore (for 505 school nurseries)& Rs. 51.24 crore (for 46 Nagar Van Udyans) respectively have been released under these schemes.
- iv. Urban forestry is a permissible activity under the provisions of Compensatory  Fund  Act,  2016  and  the  Rules  made  thereunder.  The Government of  India  has  disbursed  an  amount  of  Rs.47,436  crore  from National  Fund  to  27  State  funds  as  share  of  respective  States  as  per Compensatory Fund Act, 2016.
- v. MoEFCC also advised States/UTs to take up tree plantation under various schemes, and on all available vacant land within and outside forest areas by  involving  local  communities,  educational  institutions,  NGOs,  local bodies etc .
- vi. As per information received from Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT),  1437  No.  of  parks  over  2628  acres  of  land  have  been developed  in  the  Mission  cities.  In  addition,  775  Urban  Local  Bodies (ULBs)  have  participated  in  the  recently  launched  Jal  Shakti  Abhiyan

(JSA) for water conservation. The  ULBs  have  undertaken  various plantation programs under the JSA, including plantation along road sides, around water bodies, vacant public spaces, etc.

- vii. Further, tree plantation, being a multi-departmental, multi-agency activity, are also being taken up cross-sectorally under various programmes/funding  sources  of  other  ministries/  organizations  and  also through State Plan budgets.

Implementation  of  various  afforestation  measures  and  concerted  efforts  of  various agencies  have  resulted  in  maintainingan  increasing  trend  in  forest  and  tree  cover which is evident from the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019 released recently showing an increase of 5,188 square kilometres of forest and tree cover in the country compared to the ISFR 2017.

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