Green credit plantations get big push by Centre, to cover thousands of ha

India targeted to restore 26 million hectares of degraded lands by 2030, of which restoration of more than 22.5 million hectares (mha) has been achieved.

New Delhi The Green Credit programme of the Centre, whereby degraded land parcels are identified and restored with financial support from various entities including industries is a scheme to address land degradation, Bhupender Yadav, union environment minister said during ministerial dialogues at the conference COP16 of UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), in Riyadh on Tuesday.

India targeted to restore 26 million hectares of degraded lands by 2030, of which restoration of more than 22.5 million hectares (mha) has been achieved. (HT PHOTO)

India targeted to restore 26 million hectares of degraded lands by 2030, of which restoration of more than 22.5 million hectares (mha) has been achieved, Yadav said referring to the commitment India made in 2019, during India’s Presidency of UNCCD COP14.

“As an effort in this direction, India has launched Green Credit Programme (GCP) whereby degraded land parcels are identified and restored with financial support from various entities including industries. Also, the Green India Mission, which is implemented at the country level through convergence of efforts of several sectors in all states takes into account landscape-based approach for eco-restoration of degraded lands,” Yadav added.

“It is of paramount importance that governments and industry should work together to identify the zones and partner with each other to achieve the goals of land restoration and drought resilience through mobilisation of resources,” he said.

Separately, in response to a question in Lok Sabha, Kirti Vardhan Singh, minister of state, environment said plantation/eco-restoration activities have started in 3409 ha under the scheme. Overall, a total 1900 land parcels have been registered under GCP, aggregating 48,074 ha of degraded land. Out of these 1020 land parcels, covering 26,542 hectares, have been approved for eco-restoration of degraded land by various public and private agencies, according to the ministry. .

GCP has attracted criticism from experts and environmentalists who point out that many “degraded land parcels” already have thriving biodiversity, which will now be at risk from plantations. Some experts have also raised concerns about impact on the rights of locals to conserve or access these lands.

So far, a total of 384 entities have registered for GCPs including individuals, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private sector units, organizations, and 40 public sector undertakings (PSUs), Singh added.

The ministry’s February 22 notification on the methodology for calculation of green credit in respect of tree plantation said green credits shall be calculated at the rate of one green credit per tree grown on such land parcels, subject to minimum density of 1100 trees per hectare.

The green credit generated so generated, may also be exchanged for meeting the compliance of the compensatory afforestation in case of diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes under India’s forest conservation law, the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980. These credits may also be used for reporting under environmental, social and governance indicators or under corporate social responsibility.

Corporations, other private entities can take up plantations on degraded land, including open forest and scrub land, wasteland and catchment areas of water bodies, identified by state forest departments, the notification by the Union environment ministry said in February.

One of the major challenges facing forest land diversion for infrastructure projects is the paucity of land for plantations to compensate for the loss of forests. Compensatory Afforestation is to be raised on suitable non-forest land, equivalent to the forest area to be diverted or on degraded forest land, which is twice in extent to the forest area proposed for diversion. GCP now makes way for easing the challenge faced by industries in identifying land and carrying out compensatory afforestation.

“This rule is unscientific and completely ignores the ecological aspects of forests. Referring to open forests, scrub-land, and catchment areas as ‘degraded’ land parcels are vague and incentivising industrial-scale plantations in such areas will irreversibly alter soil quality, replace local biodiversity, and might be disastrous for local ecosystem services,” Debadityo Sinha, Lead, Climate & Ecosystems, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy had said in February following MoEFCC’s notification.