(a) whether several State Governments have not achieved the targets set for tree plantation
during the Eleventh Five Year Plan;
(b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise and the reasons therefor; and
(c) the action taken/proposed to be taken by the Union Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS (SHRI JAIRAM RAMESH)
(a)& (b) Year-wise targets for afforestation/tree planting are fixed under the 20 Point
Programme.Few states have not achieved the targets during the Eleventh Five Year period.The
targets and achievements for afforestation/tree planting from 2007-08 to 2009-10 upto October
2009 during the Plan are given in Annexure. Some of the reasons for less achievement of targets
as reported by the States/UTs are:
(i) Inadequate funds available with the State Forest Departments/other agencies
(ii) Poor infrastructure and capacity of the Departments including staff shortage
(c) The following steps have been taken by the Government for Afforestation/Tree Planting:
(i) The Ministry of Environment and Forests is implementing the National Afforestation
Programme (NAP), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for regeneration of degraded forests and
adjoining areas in the country through a two-tier decentralized mechanism of Forest Development
Agency (FDA) at the forest division level and Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) at
the village level. As on 18-02-2010, 800 FDA projects have been approved in 28 States to cover
a project area of 1.69 million ha.
(ii) Two new Eco- Task Force (ETF) Battalions have been operationalised by the Ministry
for ecorestoration of degraded areas in Assam, in addition to supporting the existing four ETF
battalions in the country.
(iii) A new scheme for afforestation involving Panchayati Raj Institution, Gram/ Panchayat
Van Yojana has been mooted by the Ministry.
(iv) Tree planting is a permissible activity under a number of schemes of other Ministries
of Government of India, notably Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Agriculture.
(v) To boost up afforestation and related activities, the convergence guidelines of
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and NAP have been issued jointly by Ministry of
Environment & Forests and Ministry of Rural Development.
(vi) Under the National Action Plan on Climate Change announced by the Government,a
National Mission for a ‘Green India’ has been mooted as one of the eight missions to inter
alia help counter the effects of climate change through forestation programmes.
(vii) A new state plan scheme, namely, Additional Central Assistance for Accelerated
Programme of Restoration and Regeneration of Forest Cover,has been introduced in the Union
Budget of 2009-10 with an allocation of Rs.500.00 crores.