The Newz Radar
MANDI: The National Green India Mission-sponsored project, sanctioned for Mandi and Nachan forest divisions in Himachal Pradesh, has received approval from the executive committee of the district-level Forest Development Authority in Mandi. Over the next eight years, plantation activities are planned on 2,096 hectares of forest land.
The Green India Mission (GIM) is one of the eight missions outlined under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. It aims to protect, restore and enhance India’s diminishing forest cover and respond to climate change through a combination of adaptation and mitigation measures.
In a meeting chaired by Chief Conservator of Forests Ajit Thakur in Mandi on December 29, the project received approval for Mandi and Nachan forest divisions. The proposed objective is to plant trees with the support of Joint Forest Management Committees on 1,236 hectares in Mandi forest division and 866 hectares in Nachan forest division over the next eight years.
He explained that the perspective plan for the project spanning 2022-23 to 2029-30 aligns with the guidelines of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The approval proposal was presented in the executive committee meeting of the district-level Forest Development Authority in Mandi. It envisions a holistic approach to greening, focusing on multiple ecosystem services, especially biodiversity, water, biomass, preserving mangroves, wetlands, critical habitats, etc., along with carbon sequestration as a co-benefit.
Thakur also mentioned that in the meeting, proposals related to the activities suggested by the agriculture, horticulture and panchayati raj institution were discussed and unanimously approved for implementation in the public interest. “This mission has adopted an integrated cross-sectoral approach as it will be implemented on both public as well as private lands with a key role of the local communities in planning, decision making, implementation, and monitoring,” he said.
Forest division officers of Mandi and Nachan, Vasu Dogar and SS Kashyap, provided detailed information about the proposed plan for the next eight years in Mandi and Nachan forest divisions during the meeting. They emphasised the importance of generating livelihoods for local people and training them to produce products based on the standards set by the National Green India Mission project.
“The main aim is to increase the forest cover, improve the quality of forest and non-forest lands, enhance ecosystem services like carbon sequestration and storage in forests and other ecosystems, hydrological services and biodiversity along with provisioning services like fuel, fodder and timber and non-timber forest produces (NTFPs), other than increasing forest-based livelihood income,” they said. Representatives from panchayati raj and local units also participated in the meeting.
