(a) whether the Government proposes to set up a designated Institute for study and research on forest and management of the forest resources in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the time by which it is likely to be set up and if not, the reasons therefor; and
(c) the targets prescribed by the Government for increasing forest area which is decreasing due to increase in population in the country?
MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(DR. HARSH VARDHAN)
(a) to (c) A statement is 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. 272 by Shri Bharat Singh and Shri Manshankar Ninama due for reply on 05.01.2018.
(a) & (b) No, Sir. There is no proposal to set up a designated Institute for study and research on forest and management of the forest resources in the country. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun, an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF & CC) is undertaking holistic research on forestry through its nine research institutes and four Regional Centres situated in the differentagro-climatic zones of the country.
(c) Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, a subordinate organization under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has been carrying out the assessment of forest cover of the country biennially. The findings of the assessment are published in India State of Forest Report. The latest report in the series is India State of Forest Report 2015. As per this report, the total forest cover of the country is 7, 01,673 square kilometers which is 21.34% of the total geographical area of the country. As per the latest report there is a net increase of 3775 square kilometers in the forest cover of the country as compared with India State of Forest Report-2013
There are a number of schemes of the Ministry to increase the forest cover of the country. The major scheme under implementation includes:
National Mission for a Green India (GIM) is one of the eight Mission outlined under the National Action Plan on Climate Change and aims at protecting, restoring and enhancing India’s forest cover. The approved targets for three years under GIM are as follows:
*Year wise physical targets (ha)
2017-18 2018-19 2019-20
4180.8 4599.6 5059.2
*The physical targets have been proposed on the basis of current year budget allocation and 10% increase every year.
NAEB is implementing National Afforestation Programme which is a major afforestation/tree plantation scheme. The scheme is implemented for afforestation and eco-restoration of degraded forest in the country through people’s participation involving the Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) at the village level, the Forest Development Agencies (FDAs) at the forest division level and the State Forest Development Agency (SFDA) at the State level. The Scheme is demand driven and afforestation area is sanctioned on the basis of past performance, potential degraded forest land available for eco-restoration and availability of budget. Over 21 lakh hectare area has been sanctioned for treatment since inception in 2000-2002 with investment of Rs. 3698.63 crores till 2016-17. An amount of Rs. 58.46 crore has been released and an area of 29067 hectares has been treated during 2017-18 (upto 30/10/2017).
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