To tackle the pressure of human population on forests and to further improve green cover, it is vital to increase greening and reduce consumption of forest resources, said the Forest Survey of India (FSI) director general Saibal Dasgupta.
He was addressing the media here a few days after the FSI’s India State of Forest Report 2017 was released in the national Capital.
Elaborating on the findings of the report, the FSI director general said that factors like forest fringe villages result in increased pressure on forest resources. Greening and efforts to curb consumption of forest resources are vital to mitigate this pressure. The Union Government is very serious about meeting this target. Measures like the Ujjwala Yojana, major focus on river conservation and plantation on river banks and along national highways are also being undertaken to meet this target.
He also stressed on the need for the holistic treatment of catchment areas to further improve the green cover and augment water conservation. Greening of the country should not be left to the forest department alone but should be taken up as a national mission with the involvement of the public, he added.