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Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday called on Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupendra Yadav in the national capital.
According to the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister's Office (CMO), the Chief Minister apprised the Union Minister of the discrepancy between the actual tree cover of 29.5 per cent and the officially recorded 27.99 per cent. He said that this issue arises from the non-inclusion of Trees outside Forest (ToF) in the consolidated representation of the state's forest and tree cover. He said that the state also exercises strict regulatory control over harvesting private lands under different statuses, for which the state doesn't receive any credit from the Centre Government. The Himachal Pradesh CMO said that CM Sukhu emphasised including this 1.5 per cent component in the forest cover in order to recognise the State's true ecological and forestry contribution. He added that the Trees outside Forest contributes to the conservation of green cover while preventing ecological degradation of the fragile Himalayas. He urged recognition of 29.5 per cent forest and tree cover for all calculations relating to forests and ecology under the Finance Commission or other allocations from the Centre Government. He demanded that 1.5 per cent of trees outside the forest component be acknowledged as a legitimate and policy-relevant contribution to ecosystem services, conservation efforts, and environmental governance. He said that undervaluing the Trees outside Forest component undervalues the true contribution of Himachal Pradesh to the national ecosystem services and creates a bias against the state that protects trees. The Chief Minister also spoke about various initiatives of the state Government to expand forest and tree cover on non-forest and private land. The Union Minister assured the state of all possible support. Chief Minister's Principal Advisor Ram Subhag Singh accompanied the Chief Minister. (ANI)
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