In the Media
India increases its forest cover by 5% in a decade
February 03, 2012
Zeenews.com
In what could bring cheers to environmentalists, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the country’s forest cover has increased by nearly five per cent between 1997 and 2007. The Prime Minister felt that eventually these forests will act as a sink that could absorb 50-60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and offset about 6 per cent of India’s annual emissions.
“We hope to see further accretion with the implementation of the Green India Mission which aims to increase the forest and tree cover by 5 million hectares and improve forest cover on another 5 million hectares,” he said addressing the 12th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit.
The government, he said, is also trying to put in place institutional arrangements and mechanisms to promote policy development and stakeholder engagement on sustainable management of commons (resources that are owned in common).
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Keywords: Asia, carbon sink, forest cover, greening Indis, India