Heritage Trees | 11 Jun 2021

The Maharashtra Cabinet has passed an action plan to protect and preserve trees older than 50 years in urban areas by terming them heritage trees.

Concept of Heritage Tree:
- Few important criteria for considering a tree as a "heritage tree" are: size, shape, rarity, aesthetical/historical values, association with historic person, place or even myths.
- A certain species need not be native to an area for this tag.
Components of Plan:
- The provisions included in the plan are the concept of heritage trees and a plan of action for conservation, method to define the age of the tree, rules to be followed before hacking trees etc.
- Compensatory Plantation:
  - It will include planting the number of trees equivalent to the age of trees to be cut.
  - The saplings need to be six to eight feet in height while planting and they will undergo geo-tagging with seven years of caring period.
  - The option of monetary compensation has also been given, instead of compensatory plantation.
- State-level Tree Authority: The authority will be formed to protect and preserve heritage trees.
  - Tree Census: It will ensure that the tree census is conducted after every five years.
  - Land Use: Ensuring that 33% of government land is used for tree plantation.