India is lagging behind in the targets to increase the number and quality of tree- and forest-cover plantations set in the Green India Mission, according to a recent data accessed via the Right To Information Act.
About Green India Mission:
- National Mission for a Green India (GIM) is one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).
- GIM was launched in the year 2014 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
- Aim: To respond to climate change by a combination of adaptation and mitigation measures, which would help:
- enhance carbon sinks
- adaptation of vulnerable species/ecosystems to the changing climate
- adaptation of forest-dependant communities
- Objectives:
- Increased forest/tree cover on 5 million hectares (mha) of forest/non-forest lands and improved quality of forest cover on another 5 mha (a total of 10 mha).
- Improved ecosystem services including biodiversity, hydrological services and carbon sequestration as a result of treatment of 10 mha.
- Increased forest-based livelihood income of about 3 million households living in and around the forests.
- Enhanced annual CO2 sequestration by 50 to 60 million tonnes in the year 2020.
- The Mission has clear targets for different forest types and ecosystems.
- Activities under Green India Mission will be implemented under convergence with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) and the National Afforestation Programme (NAP).