JOIN USThe Forest, Ecology and Environment Department has decided to use big saplings under the government’s afforestation programme from next year, Forest Minister B Ramanath Rai said on Wednesday.
He told reporters that only those saplings that are more than one year old will be planted. Chances of big saplings surviving and growing into trees are more compared to small ones, he added.
Besides, the afforestation programme in urban areas will be taken up under Nagorathana scheme. The Forest Department and the Urban Development Department will jointly draw up a detailed action plan for this purpose. The Forest Department has set a target to plant eight crore saplings under the afforestation programme this year, he said. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has tied up with some corporate firms to develop 12 lakes using corporate social responsibility fund. Many of these lakes are in Bengaluru, he added.
The minister said the department has decided to take up the incentive scheme for growing trees in a big way. Farmers who grow trees on their lands will get the incentive. A sum of Rs 10 will be paid if a sapling survives for more than a year. In the second year, Rs 15 will be paid and Rs 30 in the third year.
He said a joint survey of the forest and the revenue lands taken up by the Forest and the Revenue Department is almost complete. The survey report will be prepared in a month’s time and placed before the state Cabinet seeking its approval. Findings of the survey will be submitted to the Supreme Court in the form of an affidavit, he added.