Urgent need to halt deforestation, check further land degradation by 2030: UN forum on forests
India shared the launch of its Green Credit Programme that provides incentives to entities to take up tree plantation and restoration of degraded forests
There is an urgent need to quickly halt deforestation and prevent further land degradation by 2030 for the world to stay on the path of sustainable development, the UN Forum on Forests said in a declaration at the conclusion of its 19th session on Friday.

The declaration, which yet to be released, also reaffirmed the UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2017-30 as a global framework for action to protect and sustainably manage forests and trees outside forests, to halt deforestation and forest degradation and contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other international forest-related instruments, processes, commitments and goals.
During the meeting, India shared the launch of its Green Credit Programme that provides incentives to entities to take up tree plantation and restoration of degraded forests, the environment ministry said on Sunday.
“During the session, India highlighted the country’s significant advancements in forest conservation and sustainable forest management which led to consistent increase in forest cover over the past fifteen years. Globally, India ranks third in the net gain, in average annual forest area, between 2010 and 2020,” it said.
However, both the increase in the country’s forest cover, due to ambiguities in definition, and the Green Credit Programme, have been issues of contention.
Corporations and 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, a notification by the Union environment ministry said, in a move that has attracted criticism from experts and environmentalists who point out that a lot of such land already has thriving biodiversity, which will now be at risk from plantations, HT reported on February 27.
The plantations will help generate green credits, which can be traded and used as leadership indicators under corporate social responsibility, the February 22 notification said.
The environment ministry issued a draft notification on trading in green credits in June last year. Green Credit Rules, 2023, were then notified under various sections of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, on October 12. The Centre on February 26 notified the methodology to calculate green credits against tree plantations.
The February 22 notification stated that the land parcel identified for plantation must be free from all encumbrances and must be at least five acres. Any person or entity undertaking tree plantation to generate green credits may apply to the administrator overseeing the programme, who will then assign land identified by forest department to the applicant and ask for a proposal for undertaking tree plantation for generation of green credits. The administrator will then issue a demand note on the cost of plantation and other costs to the applicant. Once this is paid by the applicant, the forest department will carry out tree plantation in line with the management plan.
The issue of forest cover has been contentious mainly because experts have said that India’s definition of forest cover counts plantations and orchards as well. The government considers an area of one hectare or more with at least 10% canopy cover, irrespective of land use and ownership, including all land that meets the forest thresholds — tree crops, fruit orchards, bamboo and agroforestry — as a forest.
India’s definition of forests is accepted by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Food and Agriculture Organisation for their reporting and communications, according to the Forest Survey of India. A technical assessment by the UNFCCC of India’s submission on forest cover in 2019, however, recommended that the country delineate areas under orchards, and bamboo and palm cultivation for an accurate assessment of carbon stocks of forests.
India outlined a significant increase in forest cover during the past decade resulting from a scientific approach to sustainable forest management, according to the International Institute of Sustainable Development, which tracked the 19th meeting of the forest forum and published updates in its Earth Negotiations Bulletin.
Experts said that while green credit programme is touted as a strategy to enhance forest cover, the government’s execution in safeguarding natural forests has been subpar. “Legal protections and regulatory checks have been significantly weakened through amendments to forest laws sidelining precautionary principle and expert views. Moreover, compensatory afforestation initiatives have been largely unsuccessful in establishing ecologically viable forests, aiding wildlife, and have been greatly criticised for undermining the livelihoods of communities reliant on forests. It is imperative to adopt the principles of ecological restoration and more participative management of forests rather than merely planting a selection of trees by State forest departments for the sake of increasing only green cover,” said Debadityo Sinha, lead, climate and ecosystems, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.
“We must also acknowledge that except few iconic Protected Areas, the majority of them are not only isolated patches of small fragmented lands, they also suffer from significant lack of capacity which has led to poor monitoring and management of habitats leading encroachments, illegal activities inside them and local extinction of wildlife,” he added.
