Revamped Green India Mission aims to restore ecosystems in Aravallis, Himalayas, Western Ghats

THE government on Tuesday unveiled an updated National Mission for Green India, aiming to restore degraded forest ecosystems in the Western Ghats, the Himalayas and the Aravalli mountain range.

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The updated mission document, launched on the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, also focuses on greening the arid regions of northwest India.

In its first phase, the mission aimed at improving ecosystem services in 10 million hectares of land, increase forest-based livelihood income of around three million forest dependent households and enhance Co2 sequestration by 50 to 60 MT in the year 2020.

The mission's interventions began in 2015-16 and around 11.22 million hectares were brought under plantations by 2020-21.

The government said the new phase of the mission will work towards creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030, a key commitment made by India under the Paris Agreement to combat climate change.

One of the eight components of India's National Action Plan on Climate Change launched in 2008, the updated mission aims to restore the ecologically critical Aravalli hills, which stretch 700 kilometre from Gujarat to Delhi.