India unveils draft of National Green Mission

India today unveiled the draft of the ambitious National Green Mission, aiming to increase its forest cover by 10 million hectares by 2020 and enhance ecosystem services at an estimated cost of Rs 44,000 crore.

India on Monday unveiled the draft of the ambitious National Green Mission, aiming to increase its forest cover by 10 million hectares by 2020 and enhance ecosystem services at an estimated cost of Rs 44,000 crore.

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The Mission is one of the eight missions of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), which was unveiled by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year, committing to combat challenges of global warming caused by Green House Gas emissions.

The draft of the mission has been prepared taking the views of all stakeholders and will be finalised after a series of public consultations from June 11 across the country, said an official from the Environment Ministry, which will implement the programme.

The mission takes a holistic view of "greening" as it will not be restricted to just forests and plantations as a "carbon sink" to tackle climate change but lay emphasis on protecting the community by restoration of eco-systems and habitat diversity through development of grassland and pastures.