Himachal Pradesh government has recently approved to launch Mukhya Mantri Green Adoption Yojna to involve the private sector under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) towards environmental sustainability, a state government spokesperson said on Thursday.
Chief minister (CM) Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has specially mentioned this scheme in his budget speech for 2025-26 fiscal year.
A spokesperson of the state government said that this would enable private entities to participate financially and engage directly in the ecological restoration of specific degraded forest sites. Under the scheme, the forest department will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the private entrepreneurs for a period of five years, the spokesperson added. The MoU would have all details, including approved budget, cost of plantation, maintenance, protection, soil/moisture conservation, fencing and other approved activities. He said that the aim of this initiative is to increase the state’s actual forest area through plantations on degraded forest lands.
The spokesperson said that community involvement was a cornerstone of sustainable forest management. Adopting private entities would encourage the integration of local communities in the project, providing employment opportunities in activities such as site preparation, planting, watering, weeding and acting as chowkidars for protection. He said that local institutions like mahila mandals, yuvak mandals, self help groups and panchayat representatives would foster ownership and long term protection of the planted areas thereby ensuring livelihoods to the locals.