Haryana

• 01 May 2024

Government Plans to Turn South Haryana Greener

Why in News?

According to the forest department, Six districts in south Haryana are prepared to plant 2.4 million saplings in the 2024 monsoon season.

Key Points

• Faridabad will lead the initiative by planting 5 lakh saplings, followed by Mahendergarh with 4.9 lakh saplings.
  • Palwal and Gurgaon will plant 3.7 lakh and 3.4 lakh saplings, respectively, while Nuh and Rewari are planning to plant 3.3 lakh saplings each.
• The Gurgaon's urban area has a forest cover of less than 1% despite yearly large-scale plantation efforts. 2024's extensive plantation campaign is focused on boosting the green cover.
  • To ensure the success of the plantation drive, the forest department plans to involve local communities and raise awareness about the significance of trees.
  • The planting initiatives will probably be paired with educational initiatives to raise awareness about the benefits of preserving and safeguarding the newly established green areas.
• This project aims to improve the air quality of Gurgaon which is one of the most polluted according to IQAir, a Swiss company.
  • According to the report by this firm, the PM 2.5 concentration in the city rose by 11% in 2021 compared to 2020.
• The Forest Survey of India (FSI) indicates a decline of 2.47sq km of forest cover between 2019 and 2020.
  • However, simply planting a large number of trees without ensuring their survival is not an effective solution. The survival rate of saplings in the region stands at only 10 to 20%, underlining the insufficiency of mass plantation drives.
  • Environmentalists stress the need for plantation drive audits and the revival of native species to enhance biodiversity in the area.

Forest Survey of India (FSI)

• FSI was founded in June 1981 and headquartered at Dehradun in Uttarakhand.
• It is under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• This organisation conducts forest surveys, studies and researches to periodically monitor the changing situations of land and forest resources.
• It presents the data for national planning, conservation and sustainable management of environmental protection as well as for the implementation of social forestry projects.