Lok Sabha Question No. 2394 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-13
Subject: Segregation of Carbon
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Pritam Gopinath Munde, Girish Bhalchandra Bapat, Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Rahul Ramesh Shewale

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2394

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2021

## Segregation of Carbon

## 2394. DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE:

SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU:

SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE:

SHRI GIRISH BHALCHANDRA BAPAT:

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

- (a) whether  the  country's  forests  can  help  to  achieve  the  target  reduction  in  carbon emissions by 100 crore tonnes by 2030 by segregating and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere, if so, the facts in this regard;
- (b) whether the country's tree cover has declined by 5 per cent between 2001 and 2020 and whether the afforestation schemes are going on slow pace; and
- (c) if so, the total hectares of natural forests land lost during 2019, 2020 and 2021 and the response of the Government thereto?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) The  Government  of  India  has  taken  several  initiatives  towards  creating  the  carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by  2030.  Afforestation  and  tree  plantation  activities  are  undertaken  by  States  and Union Territories Governments under various State schemes. The Ministry provides financial  assistance  to  States  and  Union  Territories  Governments  under  various Centrally Sponsored Schemes including, inter alia, National Afforestation Programme, Green India Mission, Development of Wildlife Habitat and Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme to support and supplement the efforts of States and Union Territories. These initiatives also help in conservation of very dense forests and moderately dense forests as well as to increase forest and tree cover.

The Government of India is implementing National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC),  comprising  of  eight  Missions,  which  provides  an  overarching  policy framework for all climate actions in the country. Under NAPCC, National Mission for a Green India (GIM) aims at protecting, restoring and enhancing India's forest cover and responding to climate change by means of plantation activities in forest and nonforest areas.

GIM was launched in 2015-16 and a total sum of Rs. 492.20 crores has been released to fifteen States and one Union Territory for undertaking afforestation activities over an  area  of  1,84,161  hectares  including  restoration  of  wetlands  which  contribute  to achieving India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) target.

India has also committed to achieve land degradation neutrality and restoration of 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. This will help in preserving forests and biodiversity,  facilitating  conservation  of  natural  resources  and  improving  carbon sinks.  The  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  is  currently implementing  a  centrally  sponsored  scheme  'National  Plan  for  Conservation  of Aquatic  ecosystems  (NPCA)'  for  conservation  and  management  of  wetlands  and lakes. NPCA aims at holistic conservation and restoration of wetlands and lakes for achieving the desired water quality enhancement and improvement in biodiversity and ecosystems.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is also implementing the National Agroforestry  Policy  (NAP)  since  2014.  Further,  the  15 th Finance  Commission  has assigned 10% weight to forest and ecology in its horizontal devolution  criteria and weights.

- (b) & (c)    The assessment of forest cover and tree cover of the country is carried out biennially by  the  Forest Survey of India and findings are published in the India State of Forest Report (ISFR). ISFR-2019 is the latest report in the series. As per ISFR 2019, the tree cover of the country is 95,027 square kilometre and as per ISFR 2001, the tree cover was 81,472 square kilometre. Therefore, the  tree cover has  not  declined  during  this period.

The multi-departmental efforts have yielded good results in conserving and developing  forest  and  tree  cover  as  evident  from  the  fact  that  the  Forest  and  Tree cover as reported in the latest India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019 has increased by 13,209 sq km as compared to that of ISFR 2015 assessment.

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