(a) whether the Government has prepared any scheme for the protection and conservation of land from turning into fallow and barren land;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) if not, the measures undertaken for land conservation in the wake of depleting water levels and exploitation of forests in the country?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)
(a) & (b) The Government has sanctioned 8214 watershed development projects in 28 States (except Goa) in the past, covering an area of about 39.07 million hectare under Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP). IWMP was amalgamated as the Watershed Development Component (WDC) of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) in 2015-16. The activities being undertaken through these programmes, inter alia, supports Government efforts in protection and conservation of land from turning into fallow and barren land.
(c) Forest Survey of India under Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change carries out forest survey at every two years to assess the forest cover of India and it publishes India State of Forest Report (ISFR) showing different statistics related to forest cover of the country. As per the latest estimate by India State of Forest Report-2017, the area under forest and tree cover is 80.20 million hectare which is 24.39% of the geographical area of the country .
For conservation, development and enrichment of forest cover in the country, afforestation programmes are being taken up under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes such as National Afforestation Programme (NAP) and Green India Mission (GIM) being implemented by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Afforestation activities are also taken up under various programmes/funding sources such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pradhan Mantri Krishi SinchayeeYojana (PMKSY) and Compensatory Afforestation Fund.
To compensate the loss of forest for development works, compensatory afforestation is undertaken on non-forest land and degraded forest land from the funds collected from the user agencies and deposited in the Compensatory Afforestation Fund. In addition net present value of the forest land diverted is also deposited in Compensatory Afforestation Fund and utilized for additional afforestation and allied forestry activities for eco-restoration of the loss due to forest diversion.
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