Plantation drives increase U.P’s green cover by over 9% in 6 years: Report
The state government is laying a special focus on planting saplings of different species in the state to eliminate environmental imbalance and achieve inclusive development, says the U.P. government.
LUCKNOW Green cover in Uttar Pradesh has increased by 9.23% in the last six years, reveals the latest Forest Survey of India. The findings of the report were detailed in a press statement issued by the state government on Saturday.
“Even before the beginning of the massive plantation campaign on Saturday, the Yogi government set a record of planting a total of 136.98 crore saplings in the state between 2017-18 and 2022-23. This includes 49.88 crore saplings planted by the forest department and 82.1 crore saplings by other departments in the state,” read the press statement.
It added, “According to the Forest Survey of India report, there has been a significant increase in the forest cover and the tree cover in U.P. While there has been a total increase of 417 square kilometres (0.18%) in forest cover, an increase of 377 square kilometres (0.16%) has been recorded in the tree cover so far. The total green area of the state has increased by 794 square kilometres with a total increase of 9.23%.”
The plantation drive ongoing for the last six years has not only increased the green area of the state but has also led to a significant rise in the wildlife here. The count of tigers in the state has increased from 118 to 173 in the last five years. Similarly, the number of elephants has also increased from 265 to 352. Not only this, there has also been a significant increase in the number of storks, the state bird. In the last five years, the number of storks has increased from 13,670 to 17,586.
“The state government is laying a special focus on planting saplings of different species in the state to eliminate environmental imbalance and achieve inclusive development. The government’s emphasis is on planting trees like teak, rosewood, jamun (Indian black plum), arjuna, guava, drumstick, amla (gooseberry), neem, and bamboo. On the instructions of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the work of planting a maximum number of industrial and timber trees is also being done in the state. Apart from this, fruit-bearing, medicinal and aromatic, environmental and fodder, ornamental and other plants have been planted in every part of the state,” added the press statement.
