Lok Sabha Question No. 990 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-02
Subject: Conservation of Forests and Trees
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Smt. Geniben Nagaji Thakor, Shri Manish Jaiswal, Shri Mahesh Kashyap, Shri Anup Sanjay Dhotre

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 990

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.12.2024

## Conservation of Forests and Trees

990. SHRI MANISH JAISWAL:

SHRI ANUP SANJAY DHOTRE:

SHRI MAHESH KASHYAP:

SMT. GENIBEN NAGAJI THAKOR:

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

- (a) the details of all the wetlands and mangroves in the country, State-wise;
- (b) the details of the steps taken by the Government to increase the forest and tree cover along with conservation of mangroves and wetlands in Bastar Division of Chhattisgarh State;
- (c) the steps being taken by the Government for the conservation of forests and plants on the verge of extinction;
- (d) whether  the  Government  is  carrying  out  plantation  drive  in  the  country,  if  so,  the details thereof; and
- (e) the details of the funds allocated to Gujarat for the said plantation drive during the last three years?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

- (a) The  Space  Application  Centre  (SAC),  Ahmedabad,  under  Indian  Space  Research Organisation (ISRO), in collaboration with the Ministry, published the National Wetland Decadal Change Atlas in 2021. The State-wise list of wetlands as reported in the Atlas, is given in Annexure-I .

Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun,  an organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC), carries out the assessment of forest and tree cover of the country biennially and the findings are published in the India State of Forest Report (ISFR). As per the ISFR 2021, the State-wise details of mangrove cover of the country is given in Annexure II.

- (b) To increase the forest and tree cover, the Central Government provides financial support to the States and Union Territories (UTs) under various schemes and programmes such as National Mission for a Green India (GIM), Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (IDWH), Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management  and Planning Authority

(CAMPA), Nagar Van Yojana, Mangrove Initiative for  Shoreline  Habitats  &  Tangible Incomes  (MISHTI),  etc.  As  reported  by  the  office  of  Principal  Chief  Conservator  of Forest and Head of Forest Force, Chhattisgarh, as part of the ongoing forest conservation activities, restoration of degraded forests is going on in Bastar Division in a total area of 25561.288  ha  and  groundwater  conservation  work  of  6953.488  ha  in  Financial  Year 2024-25. Further,  a  total  of  2895221  saplings  have  been  planted  in  1431.517  ha  in  the rainy season of 2024.

Further, the Government has notified Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017  under  the  provisions  of  the  Environment  (Protection)  Act,  1986  as  regulatory framework for conservation and management of wetlands across the country to conserve, manage  and  maintain  the  ecological  character  of  the  wetlands.  According  to  National Wetland Decadal Change Atlas data, there are 11,261 wetlands with an area of more than 2.25 hectares in Chhattisgarh. The wetlands located in Bastar division are as follows:

|   S.N. | Name of District   |   No. of Wetlands |
|--------|--------------------|-------------------|
|      1 | Bastar             |               126 |
|      2 | Bijapur            |               306 |
|      3 | Sukama             |               161 |
|      4 | Dantewada          |                51 |
|      5 | Narayanpur         |                18 |

The  Chhattisgarh  State  Wetlands  Authority  has  completed  ground-truthing  of  2882 wetlands  under  the  Ministry's  Save  Wetlands  Campaign.  Further,  ground  truthing  and preparation of health cards of wetlands, installation of dust bins for cleanliness, and sign boards for spreading awareness around these wetlands are ongoing.

- (c) The Government of India has taken several steps which includes implementation of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, as amended, for the conservation of forests and plants on the verge of extinction in the country. Under the Act, this Ministry, in consultation with the State Governments concerned, has also notified threatened species in 18 States and 2 Union Territories. This notification  confers  power to the State Biodiversity Boards and Union Territories Biodiversity Councils to regulate access to the notified species and to take measures to preserve those species.
- (d) The  Central  Government  has  undertaken  multiple  initiatives  to  carry  out  plantation activities.  A  campaign  namely  'Ek  Ped  Maa  Ke  Naam'  has  been  launched  to  enlist community participation for plantation of trees. All the States and Union Territories have been encouraged to take up plantation activities under this campaign. The Government of India  also  provides  financial  support  to  the  States  and  Union  Territories  (UTs)  under various  schemes  and  programmes  for  conducting  plantation  drives.  Nagar  Van  Yojana (NVY)  envisages  developing  600  Nagar  Vans  and  400  Nagar  Vatikas  in  the  country during the period of 2020-21 to 2026-27. Under GIM, a sum of Rs. 944.48 crores have been released to seventeen States and one union territory for creation of plantation/ecorestoration over an area of 155130 ha. MISHTI program aims to cover approximately 540 sq km  across nine coastal states and four Union Territories through  mangrove reforestation and afforestation  efforts.  So  far,  Rs.  17.96  crore  has  been  released    under MISHTI in FY 2023-24 for restoration of 3046 ha of mangroves.
- (e) As  reported  by  the  office  of  Principal  Chief  Conservator  of  Forest,  Gujarat,  the  fund allocation for the plantation activities in the State of Gujarat for the last three years is as follows:

| Year    |   Fund allocation for plantation and allied activities (Rs. In Crores) |
|---------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2021-22 |                                                                 421.41 |
| 2022-23 |                                                                 420.9  |
| 2023-24 |                                                                 455.38 |

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## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 990 due for answer on 02.12.2024 regarding 'Conservation of Forests and Trees'

## State-wise details of Wetlands as per National Decadal Change Atlas, 2021

| Sr. No.   | State Name         | Number   | Area (ha)   |
|-----------|--------------------|----------|-------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh     | 24,104   | 1,141,606   |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh  | 1,182    | 151,104     |
| 3         | Assam              | 5,902    | 849,078     |
| 4         | Bihar              | 4,526    | 374,766     |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh       | 11,457   | 342,443     |
| 6         | Goa                | 742      | 24,749      |
| 7         | Gujarat            | 17,613   | 3,499,429   |
| 8         | Haryana            | 1,905    | 33,649      |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh   | 215      | 94,011      |
| 10        | Jharkhand          | 2,635    | 187,045     |
| 11        | Karnataka          | 14,936   | 787,127     |
| 12        | Kerala             | 1,399    | 158,336     |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh     | 13,947   | 861,736     |
| 14        | Maharashtra        | 25,935   | 1,152,625   |
| 15        | Manipur            | 132      | 67,408      |
| 16        | Meghalaya          | 225      | 31,002      |
| 17        | Mizoram            | 127      | 19,476      |
| 18        | Nagaland           | 148      | 21,118      |
| 19        | Odisha             | 13,331   | 719,942     |
| 20        | Punjab             | 1,190    | 47,024      |
| 21        | Rajasthan          | 13,321   | 778,824     |
| 22        | Sikkim             | 259      | 7,049       |
| 23        | Tamil Nadu         | 26,883   | 925,712     |
| 24        | Telangana          | 12,338   | 566,680     |
| 25        | Tripura            | 416      | 1,843       |
| 26        | Uttar Pradesh      | 18,555   | 1,104,562   |
| 27        | Uttarakhand        | 172      | 112,882     |
| 28        | West Bengal        | 12,955   | 1,130,127   |
| 29        | Andaman& Nicobar   | 2,774    | 143,238     |
| 30        | Chandigarh         | 11       | 336         |
| 31        | Dadra Nagar Haveli | 12       | 2,063       |
| 32        | Daman and Diu      | 59       | 2,728       |
| 33        | Delhi              | 123      | 2,773       |
| 34        | Jammu& Kashmir     | 404      | 164,110     |
| 35        | Lakshadweep        | 50       | 79,716      |
| 36        | Ladakh             | 1,073    | 373,049     |
| 37        | Puducherry         | 139      | 5,555       |
| Total     | Total              | 231,195  | 15,981,516  |

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 990 due for answer on 02.12.2024 regarding 'Conservation of Forests and Trees'

## State-wise details of Mangrove cover (as per State of Forest Report 2021)

| States/ UTs    |   Mangrove cover as per State of Forest Report 2021 (Sq. Km) |
|----------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh |                                                          405 |
| Goa            |                                                           27 |
| Gujarat        |                                                         1175 |
| Karnataka      |                                                           13 |
| Kerala         |                                                            9 |
| Maharashtra    |                                                          324 |
| Odisha         |                                                          259 |
| Tamil Nadu     |                                                           45 |
| West Bengal    |                                                         2114 |
| A &NIslands    |                                                          616 |
| Daman& Diu     |                                                            3 |
| Puducherry     |                                                            2 |
| Total          |                                                         4992 |

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