NATIONAL SCHEMES

Forests are one of the major natural resources and are the lifeline of a  prominent rural industry in India. India is also the world’s largest consumer of fuel-wood. Hence, the protection of forests becomes a huge problem in India. For the conservation and development of the forests, The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has implemented plantation schemes in the forest areas with participatory manner. The plantation species under the schemes is selected by the members of Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMC) based on their requirements, ecological conditions and other factors in the supervision of the Forest Department. The ministry has implemented 3 major schemes for the evolution and protection of forests-

1) The National Afforestation Programme (NAP) scheme for the afforestation of degraded forest lands 

2) The National Mission for a Green India (GIM) scheme for improving the quality of the forest and an increase in forest cover areas and

3)  The Forest Fire Prevention & Management (FFPM) scheme for forest fire prevention and management measures.

Green India Mission

The National Mission for a Green India or Green India Mission (GIM)was propelled in February 2014 for securing; reestablishing and upgrading India's reducing timberland spread and reacting to worldwide environmental change by a blend of adjustment and relief measures. 

Objectives of the National Mission for A Green India 

Eco-reclamation/afforestation of scour, moving development regions, cold deserts, mangroves, gorges and surrendered mining regions 

Improvement in backwoods and tree spread on peripheral farming terrains/fallows and other non-timberland arrives under agroforestry/social ranger service 

Expansion of woodland based vocations of around 3 million family units living in and around timberlands. 

The executives of open woodland/non-backwoods zones (taken up under the Mission) by the network organizations

Administration and Implementation of GIM 

At the national level, the Mission is set up as a self-governing Society under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to encourage smooth execution of the Mission. 

The Governing Council of the Society, Chaired by the Minister for Environment and Forests, Government of India and drawing upon cross-sectoral portrayal will give generally speaking direction.

National Afforestation Programme

The objective of The National Afforestation Programme (NAP)

The overall objective of the National Afforestation Programme (NAP) scheme is the ecological restoration of degraded forests and to develop the forest resources with peoples’ participation, with a focus on improvement in livelihoods of the forest-fringe communities, especially the poor. 

NAP aims to support and accelerate the on-going process of devolving forest conservation, protection, management, and development functions to the Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) at the village level, which are registered societies. 

 Implementation of the scheme

The scheme is implemented by three-tier institutional setup through the following agencies -

• The State Forest Development Agency (SFDA) at the state level
• The Forest Development Agency (FDA) at the forest division level and 
• The Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) at the village level.

Components of the scheme

The major components of the scheme include -

• Afforestation under Seven plantation models
• Maintenance of previous years plantations and Ancillary Activities like soil and moisture conservation activities (SMC)
• Fencing, overheads, monitoring, and evaluation (M&E)
• Micro-planning
• Awareness-raising
• Entry Point Activities (EPA) etc.

Sanctioning of the afforestation area 

The Scheme is demand-driven and the afforestation area is sanctioned based on past performance, potential degraded forest land available for eco-restoration and availability of budget.

Fund sharing

NAP is a centrally sponsored scheme which is implemented with the fund sharing pattern of 60: 40 per cent between Centre and States wherein the sharing pattern for Northeastern and hilly States is 90:10. 

The central share of funds are released through State Government and state government transfers the funds to SFDA along with its state share.

Current Investment

Since the beginning of the NAP (2000-2002), an amount of Rs.3874.02 crores have been released till 2018-19 to various States and are being utilized for treatment over 21 lakh hectare sanctioned area.

 Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme

Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has provided information about forest fires management and prevention during a reply to the question tabled in Rajya Sabha (Budget Session 2020).

Key Points

• The area covering 93,273 hectares was affected by forest fires in 2019. However, it also includes “ground fires”, i.e. burning of ground vegetation.
• Forests are a subject in the concurrent list of the Seventh Schedule of the Indian Constitution. The MoEF&CC has prepared a National Action Plan on forest fires (2018) after consultation with all states and Union Territories.
•  Additionally, MoEF&CC also provides forest fire prevention and management measures under the Centrally Sponsored Forest Fire Prevention and Management scheme,

National Action Plan on Forest Fires

• National Action Plan on Forest Fires (NAPFF) was launched in 2018 to minimise forest fires by informing, enabling and empowering forest fringe communities and incentivising them to work with the State Forest Departments.
• The plan also intends to substantially reduce the vulnerability of forests across the diverse forest ecosystems in the country against fire hazards.
• It also aims to enhance the capabilities of forest personnel and institutions in fighting fires and swift recovery after fire incidents.

Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme

• The Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme (FPM) is the only centrally funded program specifically dedicated to assisting the states in dealing with forest fires.
• The FPM replaced the Intensification of Forest Management Scheme (IFMS) in 2017. By revamping the IFMS, the FPM has increased the amount dedicated to forest firework.
• Funds allocated under the FPM are according to a centre-state cost-sharing formula, with a 90:10 ratio of central to state funding in the Northeast and Western Himalayan regions and a 60:40 ratio for all other states.