The updated Green India Mission is expected to increase the forest cover, restoration of the ecosystem, as well as climate change mitigation by engaging in region-specific ecological and community-based initiatives.
One of the most climate-vulnerable countries of the world, India, is struggling with warmer days, unpredictable rain seasons, and escalating land degeneration. Forests, in this regard, are crucial as sources of carbon sink as well as safeguarding biodiversity and livelihood. As environmental restoration was of paramount importance, the Government of India introduced the Green India Mission (GIM) in 2014 on the basis of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). Although the mission got some way, new ecological issues and the low increase in forest cover caused a new, more direct approach to be taken. The amended Green India Mission (2021-2030) is a strategic move towards building climate resilience with renewed emphasis to restore 24.7 million hectares of forest and tree cover in the ecologically fragile regions of Aravallis, Himalayas, mangroves and arid landscapes. It employs a micro-ecosystem approach, combines climate science and involvement of the local people, and is aligned with the national commitment of India in the parliament agreement to establish a carbon sink by 2030. The present article explores the development, main characteristics, and interventions of the mission, its way forward, which shows its immense potential to change the green cover of India and enhance its climate security.
Revised Green India Mission Latest News
The Green India Mission (GIM) was introduced as a crucial component of India's climate change strategy. It blends community welfare with long-term environmental sustainability goals alongside ecological restoration.
The Alignment of Climate and Forest Policy
The Green India Mission was launched in 2014 as one of the eight core missions of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), envisioning countering any climate change impediments through afforestation and restoration of ecosystems. Quite different was the case in the GIM, where the ecosystem services provision, bettering the biodiversity, and making the forest-based communities more resilient were also major concerns of the program, which had not been the case in the conventional forestry programs.
Initiating Goals
The initial objectives of the mission were large-scale ones: the establishment of 5 million hectares of new forest and tree cover and of the quality of regional forest cover in 5 million hectares more. It also served to increase important services that the ecosystem provides, which include carbon sequestration services, water regulation services, and soil fertility. The mission had a maximum focus on the participation of the local people through collective management of the forest committees, self-help groups and decentralization of planning.
Success and Failures
In previous records dated between 2014 and 2020, GIM was able to promote afforestation in various states with a total of 11.22 million hectares presenting plantations. Results have, however, been mixed. The reports cited low forest growth, little transparency and insufficiency in the use of funds. In certain areas, there was an ecological mismatch due to the absence of a region-specific approach. The given restrictions, along with India's dynamic climate ambitions within the framework of the Paris Agreement, made the idea of the vision and procedure of the mission grounded and desirable to be updated and increased.
Why Mission Required a Revision?
As a milestone project in its own right, the Green India Mission (GIM) started off not going as planned because of the changing climate conditions and implementation blocks, and it had to be given a significant update.
Limited Forest Cover
Although it implied a lot, the mission did not accomplish a lot in forest cover expansion. India's forest cover increased by only 156.41 square kilometres between 2021 and 2023, far less than the anticipated amount. This reflected the call on the necessity of more area-specific, scientifically substantiated afforestation approaches as opposed to an all-the-same model.
Heightened Ecological Zone Vulnerabilities
The ecologically diverse areas, such as the Himalaya region to the Western Ghats and mangroves in India, are experiencing increased vulnerabilities to the change in weather and the increase in temperature. The first GIM was not flexible enough to be able to respond to the peculiarities of every landscape. This was necessitated by the fact that a micro-ecosystem concept was necessary, considering the fact that the traditional models of afforestation presented no long-term and resilience ecological gains.
Resource pressure and Land Degradation
By 2018-19, almost 97.85 million hectares of the Indian soil was reported to be in a state of degradation. This environmental degradation, together with the mounting population pressure and the increasing infrastructure, emphasized the inefficiency of the planned rejuvenation of the forest landscapes. The mission required an updated strategy in poor lands, particularly, under conditions of arid and semi-arid areas.
Adherence to the Global Climate
The international obligations in India based on the Paris agreement, especially on the establishment of an additional 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent carbon sinks by 2030, necessitated the realignment of GIM. These climate goals were at risk of being slipped out of context unless handled with great concentration in their required restoration strategy. The new mission aims to bring in concert national forest policies and international environmental commitments.
Key Features
The new Green India Mission (2021-2030) is a revolutionary step toward embarking upon a new direction of afforestation, climate resilience, and ecosystem restoration in India which focuses on region focus and long-term ecological sustainability.
Micro-Ecosystem-Base Planning
The significant change that the revised mission has brought is a micro-ecosystem approach, in which strategies of afforestation and conservation are made up depending on the individual ecological and climatic aspects of various regions. These guarantee that interventions are also scientifically determined as per the requirements of every landscape; in other words mountainous, coastal, arid or forested and hence improve the probability of ecological success and sustainability.
Specific Geographical Intervention
The updated GIM has a number of ecologically pressured sites needing instant reparation. These are the Indian Himalayan Region, Aravalli Hills, mangrove forests etc. By focusing its activities in these vulnerable climate areas, the mission aims at stabilizing the weak ecosystems and reverse the impacts of the degradation and desertification process.
Carbon Sink and Restoration Targets
The mission targets to restore 24.7 million hectares of forest and tree cover by 2030 in order to meet India's international climate targets. It is also aimed at creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent, another burdened goal that will be in line with the commitments to the Paris Agreement.
Multidimensional - Integrative
The new strategy highly focuses on the community input, integrating both traditional and scientific forestry. It also favours its convergence with other schemes such as the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) and the Green Wall of India so that the resources are used efficiently and with a large-scale involvement of stakeholders.
Interventions and Techniques Strategic
Under the altered Green India Mission (2021-2030), there is a set of strategic interventions and methods that have been developed to repair ecosystems that are in degraded condition and promote biodiversity.
Regeneration of Degraded and Open Forests
The major strategy will be the rehabilitation of degraded and open forests by an assisted natural regeneration along with planting gaps, and native species enrichment. This solution not only enhances forest density but also enhances ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water retention and soil fertility too.
Agroforestry and Tree Plantations on Non-forest Lands
To increase the green cover beyond the normal forests, the mission encourages agroforestry and tree plantations on farmlands, wastelands and in the infrastructure corridors, e.g., along roads and railway lines. This practice, which incorporates the use of trees in agricultural systems, improves the living standards as the incomes of the people in the countryside increase and at the same time, it helps promote ecological stability.
Soil conservation
In hilly areas and areas where there is a lot of erosion, like the Himalayas, the mission applies slope stability measures such as gully plugs, contour trenches and check dams. Such interventions mitigate landslides, eliminate soil erosion and enhance the capture of rainwater, hence preserving the ecosystem and human settlements.
Mangrove and sea-buckthorn Restoration
In cool deserts, plantations of sea-buckthorn is being established on the basis of their ecological and medicinal importance. Meanwhile, restoration of the mangroves along the coast contributes to countering the effects of storm surges, promoting blue biodiversity in the ocean, and increasing the storage of carbon in the blue ecosystems.
Environmental Schemes Convergence
The mission will effectively harmonize efforts with such projects as CAMPA Fund and the Aravalli Green Wall Project to maximize their effect. Such convergence is beneficial in ensuring optimum use of available resources, eliminating duplication, and developing an integrated landscape-level planning.
Social, Economic, and Environmental Advantages
The amended Green India Mission (GIM) is a potent combination of ecological recovery and social and economic empowerment, which is bound to build resilient landscapes in India.
Forest-Fringe Livelihood Enhancement
Among the most significant changes that the mission has brought it has resulted in the creation of sustainable livelihoods. NIER develops or establishes a nursery and involves locals in afforestation activities and management of the forest in a manner that generates employment and improves income. The women and educated forest management committees and the individual classes have the power to engage in decision-making to enhance all-inclusive growth and eradicate social injustice.
Resilience to Ecosystems and Biodiversity Conservation
The mission embraces the concept of recovering the native vegetation and degraded habitat, which consequently contributes to the regeneration of the local flora and fauna. The Himalayas, mangroves, and arid areas are ecologically sensitive areas that GIM targets to make ecosystems more resilient to the effects of climate shock or floods, droughts, and heat waves. This biodiversity increase also plays a part in pollination and control of pests, among other important ecosystem services.
Improving Soil Health and Water Security
Soil conservation measures and afforestation under GIM find use in replenishing groundwater, reducing run off and stopping soil erosion. In poorly rain-fed areas (decertified or inconsequent rain) the interventions enhance food security through enhancements of agricultural productivity and water supply at the rural level.
Carbon Sequestration and Climatic Mitigation
Through the increase in forest and tree cover the mission will help India in achieving the climate targets as signatories to the Paris Agreement due to carbon sequestration. The establishment of a new carbon sink balances out the emissions besides putting India in a Favorable position of being an active global contributor in the fight against climate change.
Obstacles and the solution
The new Green India Mission (GIM) is ambitious in its scope, yet it could only achieve its success when the existing challenges are overcome and it will have to implement a forward-looking, inclusive and adaptive approach.
Resource allocation and fund gaps
Underutilization and tardy dispensation of the funds are one of critical issues. Most states find it difficult to dig their way out of bureaucracy and financial planning, irrespective of their allocations via the National CAMPA Fund and other resources. This undermines the prompt implementation of the afforestation schemes and reduces the sustainability in the long term.
Invasive Species and Ecological Mismatches
In a number of cases, afforestation projects have utilised rapidly growing and non-local species that interfere with the local biodiversity and land fertility. Lack of region-based ecological planning has resulted in monoculture plantation, which is not resilient to climate stress and has a minimal provision of ecosystem services.
Communal Inclusion and Government Matters
Despite the mission focusing on community involvement, there is no consistency with ground-level involvement. The local ownership has been constrained by weak institutional support of Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) and constraint building activities. Communities that are not empowered will not likely have long-term stewardship of the forests.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Transparency
The absence of proper monitoring processes and the impossibility of tracking the data in real time have left little opportunity to determine the actual effect of the mission. There is often a lack of social audits and third-party assessments and without this, there are no systems to take the right track as far as accountability is concerned.
Building foundations
In order to guarantee success, GIM needs to focus on decentralized planning, ecological integrity as well and empowerment of the community. Transparency and efficiency can be increased by strengthening institutional structures, popularizing the use of native species and using technology such as GIS and remote sensing. A mix of climate science and traditional knowledge and its alignment with other environmental plans, will be part and parcel in creating a greener and stronger India.
Conclusion
The modified Green India Mission can be regarded as a paramount reaction to the increasing number of climatic and environmental problems in India. It will also improve on the mission by adopting the micro-ecosystem approach, combining the scientific and traditional knowledge, and aligning it to the efforts to global climatic targets, to ensure that the mission puts sustainability rather than symbolic greening at the center of its activity. Its focus on participation in the community, a revival of biodiversity and interventions specific to landscapes supports the vision of having a climate-resilient and environmentally safe India.
Nevertheless, the key to unlocking such potential lies in the implementation as any challenge associated with governance, funding, and ecological integrity is going to be problematic. Aided by the political will, open and accountable oversight, and strengthened commitment by the locals, the mission will not only be limited to revitalizing the damaged lands but also save lives and solidify Indian leadership in environmental protection. As the country goes through the maze of climate change, there might be one way to have a green, healthier and more inclusive future, the presence of the Green India Mission that will lead to the aforementioned future, one never forgets that ecological restoration is not optional, it is a blessing.