Green India Mission to Increase Forest Cover

A 45,000 crore rupees huge programme to increase the country’s green cover is going to be launched soon. The 10 year long  programme named Green India Mission, GIM after a preparatory phase of one year will get going from 2012. Addressing a series of functions on the occasion of the World Environment Day on 5^th June this year, the Minister for Environment and Forests, Shri Jairam Ramesh said that the target is to bring 5 million hectares of forest and non-forest land under green cover and improve the quality of green cover on another 5 million hectare of non-forest land.

Green India Mission – A Way to Enhance ECO-Systems

The National Mission for a Green India is one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change. The Green India Mission recognizes that climate change phenomena will seriously affect and alter the distribution, type and quality of natural resources of the country and the associated livelihoods of the people. GIM acknowledges the influences that the forestry sector has on environmental amelioration though climate mitigation, food security, water security, biodiversity conservation and livelihood security of forest dependent communities. The Key Innovations are the focus on quality of forests, ecosystem services, democratic decentralization, creating a new cadre of Community Youth as Foresters, Adoption of Landscape-based Approach and Reform Agenda as conditionality. Total Mission Cost is Rs 46,000 crore for a period of 10 years covering both Centre and States.