Revised Green India Mission (GIM) for 2021-2030

Context

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav launched the revised Green India Mission (GIM) document for 2021-2030 period.

Key Highlight

• The National Mission for a Green India (GIM) was released in 2014 as one of the 8 central missions under India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).
• The mission aims to protect, repair, and decorate forest and tree cover in India even as addressing the challenges of climate change by both model and mitigation strategies.
• The Green India Mission is being applied over a 10-year period from 2021 to 2030.
• If the current trend of over 2 million hectares of annual tree plantation is maintained, it is able to cover some other 12 million hectares between 2025 and 2030.
• Key Objectives and Targets: One of the number one goals of the mission is to increase forest and tree cover on 5 million hectares of forest and non-forest land.
  • Additionally, the assignment seeks to improve the best of forest cover on each other 5 million hectares.
  • The mission also contributes to India’s climate commitments by aiming to create an extra carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, as part of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.

Revised Projections and Area Requirements 

• According to the Forest Survey of India (FSI), if all deliberate restoration activities are implemented, India could potentially gain a carbon sink of 3.39 billion tonnes of CO₂ equal.
  • To meet this goal, the undertaking would need to increase forest and tree cover over an anticipated 24.7 million hectares of land.
• Micro-Ecosystem Approach in Vulnerable Landscapes: The mission proposes a ‘micro-ecosystem’ method to deal with ecological recovery in vulnerable landscapes.
  • These landscapes consist of the Aravallis, Western Ghats, arid regions of Northwest India, mangroves, and the Indian Himalayan Region.
  • The approach involves region-specific recuperation practices which can be tailored to the ecological needs of each area.
• Key Strategies for Implementation: Restoration can be completed by the healing of open forests, agroforestry, and plantation on degraded lands.
• Tree plantations may also be undertaken on wastelands, along railway lines, and national highways to increase inexperienced cover.
• The FSI has identified that the greatest capability for creating additional carbon sinks lies in restoring forests that have been degraded in the last 15 to 20 years.

Mission Governance Structure

• The National Governing Council of the Mission will be chaired by the Union Environment Minister.
• The National Executive Council will be headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Environment.
• The Directorate could be supported by a team of specialists and secretarial staff.

Progress Made So Far

• Field-level interventions under the mission began in the year 2015–16.
• By 2020–21, a total of 11.22 million hectares of land have been introduced under several plantation and recuperation activities.

Source: The Indian Express

Prelims PYQ

Q. At the national level, which ministry is the nodal agency to ensure effective implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006? (2021) 

(a) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change 

(b) Ministry of Panchayati Raj 

(c) Ministry of Rural Development 

(d) Ministry of Tribal Affairs 

Download as PDF