Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu called on Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav at New Delhi today. Chief Minister apprised the Union Minister about the discrepancy registered in the actual tree cover of 29.5 percent against the officially recorded 27.99 percent.
He said that this arises due to non inclusion of Trees outside Forest (ToF) in consolidated representation of State's forest and tree cover. He said that the state also exercises strict regulatory control over harvesting private lands under different status for which state doesn't receive any credit from the Centre Government.
He emphasized upon including this 1.5 percent component in the forest cover in order to recognize the State's true ecological and forestry contribution. He added that the Trees outside Forest contributes to conservation of green cover while preventing ecological degradation of fragile Himalayas.
He urged for recognizing 29.5 percent forest and tree cover for all calculations relating to forest and ecology under the Finance Commission or other allocations from the Centre Government. He demanded that 1.5 percent trees outside Forest component may be acknowledged as a legitimate and policy relevant contribution to ecosystem services, conservation effort and environmental governance.
He said that undervaluing the Trees outside Forest component undervalues the true contribution of Himachal Pradesh to the national eco system services and creates a bias against the state that protects trees. Chief Minister also detailed about various initiatives of the state Government to expand the forest and tree cover on non forest and private land.
The Union Minister assured of all possible support to the State. Chief Minister's Principal Advisor Ram Subhag Singh accompanied the Chief Minister.