Chandigarh, May 30:Mr. Surjit Kumar Jyani, Forests Minister Punjab today gave a call for involving the public for making comprehensive bringing of Punjab a success.
Speaking after inaugurating a workshop on Green India Mission was held at Chandigarh by the Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation today, Mr. Jyani said that we can not achieve the target of greening the state without involving the masses in this revolution. He stated that the Forest beats (the smallest administrative units of the Forest Department) have been reconstituted to include the non-forest areas in the beats so that forest functionaries approach the village panchayats, schools, dispensaries and other Government and non-Governmental organizations for providing help in planting more trees and preserving the existing ones. The Minister said that all villages of Punjab would be covered under the newly organized beats and that on a starting point, instructions had already been issued to the department to plant ‘Trivenis’ in each village of the state in the coming monsoon season.
The workshop on Green India Mission that was held here the Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation today has been organized after a series of village level workshops held at ten locations in the state. The State workshop was intended to chart out the process of preparation of Perspective Plan for the State under the National Mission for a Green India (henceforth referred as Green India Mission). Green India Mission is one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). Recognizing that the climate change phenomenon will seriously affect and alter the distribution, type and quality of natural resources of the country and hence affect the livelihoods of the people, the Government of India is launching the gigantic Green India Mission with massive afforestation and reforestation targets of 10 million hectares over a period of 10 years. The Mission will coincide with the twelfth and the thirteenth Five Year Plans.
Departing from the earlier practice of raising the plantations, the Green India Mission for the first time emphasizes the restoration of ecosystems such as grasslands and pastures, wetlands and degraded forests. There is a special emphasis on improving the quality and density of forests, restoration of biodiversity and in this way enhancement of ecosystem services. Relying on the decentralized mode of planning and integrated cross-sectoral approach to implementation of the project, the Govt. of India has advised the states through several detailed Advisories to ensure the active participation of people by taking the views of the local communities and other stakeholder departments. The present State level workshop was accordingly held by the Punjab Forest Department to obtain diverse cross-sectoral inputs for preparation of the State Perspective Plan under the Green India Mission.
The workshop was attended by various forest officers from the Govt. of India, Government organizations like the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Forest Survey of India, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing and Forest Research Institute, Dehradun besides senior officer of the Forest Departments of the neighboring states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. Heads of the Departments of allied departments like Agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and soil conservation of Punjab State also participated in the workshop. A large number of representatives of the targeted villages also attended the workshop and expressed their views about the way the Forest Department should prepare the plans for Green India Mission and its implementation.
Mr. Jyani congratulated the Department of Forests for organizing this workshop. Before inaugurating the same he planted a Ficus benjamin and also inspected an exhibition put up by the self-help groups of the State constituted under the Joint Forest Management strategy.
Beside the Minister, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Forests, Ch. Nand Lal, Financial Commissioner, Forests Mr. D.S. Bains, and Mr.H.S.Gujral IFS, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests also addressed the workshop. Dr S.B.Roy, from the Indian Institute of Bio-Social Research and Development emphasized the need for developing a strong joint forest management system for protection of natural resources particularly the biodiversity. There was an overall consensus in the workshop that the time was running out to respond to the climate change by a combination of adaptation and mitigation measures which would help to enhance the carbon sinks in the forest ecosystems. Many speakers emphasized the need for micro- planning at the village level so that the people are confident and respond to the situations in a better way. Director, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun observed that the role of agro-forestry was equally important in a state like Punjab in order to successfully implant the Green India Mission.
No.PR-12/299
