‘Define terms for using degraded forest land’

CENTRE WRITES TO STATES | COMPENSATORY AFFORESTATION

- Jayashree Nandi

The Union environment ministry has written to states and UTS specifying terms and conditions for afforestation on degraded forest land to meet the requirement of compensatory afforestation for various industry projects.

This follows the ministry's August 29 notification on a revised methodology for the Green Credit Programme and August 31 notification on Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Amendment Rules, 2025, which make significant amendments to the forest conservation rules 2023. Both notifications facilitate use of degraded forests for compensatory afforestation and issuance of green credits.

Compensatory afforestation involves making up for diversion of forest land for infrastructure projects by planting trees over an equivalent area of non-forest land, or double the area when non-forest land is not available and it is instead taken up on degraded forests.

Green credits are incentives awarded to individuals and organisations for undertaking environmentally positive actions, such as tree plantations. These credits are tradable on a domestic market platform.

The letter sent to states and UTs earlier this month explains the logic of using degraded forests. It states that forests play a pivotal role in India achieving its Net Zero Emission target by 2070. India has set itself the Nationally Determined Contribution targets (NDCs) of creating a carbon sink of additional 2.5 to 3.0 billion tons of CO2 equivalent by 2030 and expanding forest and tree cover to one-third of its land area.