Forest management

The government of Jammu and Kashmir is giving special attention to the green cover and also to the forest management so that the place becomes eco-friendly.

The Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir recently held a workshop of the forest department to look for ways and means to enhance the green cover.

He expressed happiness to note that as per the Government of India Report, 2021, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has the highest carbon stock per unit area which is indicative of maximum biomass and good soils in forests of J&K.  With 42 types of forests, J&K holds the most diverse forests in the country and has every reason to be a model UT as far as REDD-plus is concerned.

He said that the workshop should be utilized to enable a model project which is simple and practical involving convergence, livelihood generation and grass root level programmes. He expressed satisfaction that the Forest Department with the mandate of afforestation and conservation of forests is now actively involving grassroots level institutions like Village Panchayats and Biodiversity Management Committees. He also appreciated the new initiatives of ‘One Beat Guard, One Village’ programme and campaign on ‘Har Gaon Hariyali’ and ‘Van Se Jal, Jal Se Jeevan’ undertaken by the Forest department.

He congratulated HFRI and J&K Forest department for organizing this capacity building workshop.