Forest restoration in India

This month is time for Van Mahotsav, which literally means “celebrate the forest”.

Why tree planting matters

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), deforestation and forest degradation contribute around 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The total area occupied by primary forests in India has decreased by 3.6%.

Tree planting comes with varied environmental and ecological benefits.

Forests are integral in regulating ecosystems, influencing the carbon cycle and mitigating the effects of climate change.

Annually, forests absorb roughly 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.

This absorption includes nearly 33% of the carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels.

Livelihood: Forests are a boon for local communities and their livelihoods by functioning as a resource base for goods and services.

Enrich soil fertility: According to academics from the World Resources Institute, forest ecosystems enrich soil fertility and water availability, enhancing agricultural productivity, and in turn the rural economy.

Prevents erosion and flooding: Tree planting prevents erosion and stems flooding.

Sustainable forest crops reduce food insecurity and empower women, allowing them to gain access to more nutritional diets and new income streams.

Agroforestry lessens rural-to-urban migration and contributes to an increase in resources and household income.

Planting trees is deeply linked to the ‘wholistic’ well-being of all individuals, the community, and the planet.

Afforestation through forest landscape restoration

Typically, governments have relied on afforestation and reforestation as a means of establishing trees on non-treed land. These strategies have now evolved.

Focus on forest landscape restoration: The focus is now on forest landscape restoration — the process of regaining ecological functionality and improving human welfare across deforested or degraded forest landscapes.

Community participation: Forest landscape restoration seeks to involve communities in the process of designing and executing mutually advantageous interventions for the upgradation of landscapes.

Nearly two billion hectares of degraded land in the world (and 140 million hectares in India) have scope for potential restoration as forest land.

Ensuring diversity of species: A crucial aspect of this process is to ensure the diversity of the species while planting trees.

 Natural forests with diverse native tree species are more efficient in sequestering carbon than monoculture tree plantations.

Planting diverse species is also healthier for local communities and their livelihoods.

An international study published earlier this year in the journal, Science, found that diversifying species in forest plantations has a positive impact on the quality of the forests.

Programs and initiative for forest restoration

The span 2021-2030 is the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, emphasising efforts to restore degraded terrestrial ecosystems including forests.

Bonn Challenge: In 2011, the Bonn Challenge was launched with a global goal to restore 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030.

India joined the Bonn Challenge in 2015, pledging to restore 26 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030.

An additional carbon sink of 2.5 billion-3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through forest and tree cover is to be created by 2030.

There are a myriad government programmes such as Compensatory Afforestation, the National Afforestation Programme, the National Mission for a Green India (Green India Mission), the Nagar Van scheme and the Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme to name a few.

The Green Skill Development Programme is for the youth who aspire to attain employment in the environment and forest sectors.

Challenges

Forest restoration in India faces hurdles in terms of the identification of areas for restoration, a lack of importance accorded to research and scientific strategies in tree planting, stakeholders’ conflicts of interest, and financing.

Way forward

To be successful, forest landscape restoration must be implemented proactively, bolstering landscapes and forest ecosystems to be durable and adjustable in the face of future challenges and societal needs.

Involvement of stakeholders: It also needs the involvement and the alignment of a host of stakeholders including the community, champions, government and landowners.

Participatory governance: The restoration of natural forest ecosystems can be strengthened through participatory governance by engaging stakeholders.

Taking into account socio-economic context: Vulnerable forest-dependent communities should be factored in, and any effort should be tailored to the local socio-economic context and landscape history of a region.

KHADC to invite talks on Instrument of Accession

The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) in Meghalaya has called for a meeting of traditional heads to revisit the Instrument of Accession that made the Khasi domain a part of the Indian Union.

About KHADC

KHADC is an autonomous district council in the state of Meghalaya in India.

It is one of the three autonomous district councils within Meghalaya, and one of twenty-five autonomous regions of India.

Meghalaya is divided into three regions dominated by as many matrilineal communities — the Khasis, Garos and Jaintias.

The Khasi hills straddle 25 Himas or States that formed the Federation of Khasi States.

Why in news?

Some members of the KHADC agreed that the Instrument of Accession and Annexed Agreement signed with the Dominion of India between December 15, 1947 and March 19, 1948, should be studied.

The treaty was signed by Governor General of India, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, on August 17, 1948.

What is Instrument of Accession?

It was a legal document first introduced by the Government of India Act, 1935.

It was used in 1947 to enable each of the rulers of the princely states under British paramountcy to join one of the new dominions of India or Pakistan created by the Partition.

The instruments of accession executed by the rulers, provided for the accession of states to the Dominion of India (or Pakistan) on three subjects, namely, defence, external affairs and communications.

Ex-NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant is new G-20 Sherpa

Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has been picked as India’s new Sherpa for the G-20.

Who is a Sherpa (in IR context)?

A Sherpa is the personal representative of a head of state or government who prepares an international summit, particularly the annual G7 and G20 summits.

Between the G7 summits, there are multiple Sherpa conferences where possible agreements are laid out.

This reduces the amount of time and resources required at the negotiations of the heads of state at the final summit.

The name Sherpa—without further context—refers to Sherpa for the G7 summit, but the designation can be extended to different regular conferences where the participation of the head of state is required.

The Sherpa is generally quite influential, although they do not have the authority to make a final decision about any given agreement.

Etymology

The name is derived from the Sherpa people, a Nepalese ethnic group, who serve as guides and porters in the Himalayas, a reference to the fact that the sherpa clears the way for a head of state at a major summit.

They are Tibetan Buddhists of the Nyingmapa sect, and have drawn much of their religious tradition from the Rongphu monastery, located at 16,000 feet on the north side of Mount Everest.

About G20

Formed in 1999, the G20 is an international forum of the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies.

Collectively, the G20 economies account for around 85 percent of the Gross World Product (GWP), 80 percent of world trade.

To tackle the problems or address issues that plague the world, the heads of governments of the G20 nations periodically participate in summits.

In addition to it, the group also hosts separate meetings of the finance ministers and foreign ministers.

The G20 has no permanent staff of its own and its chairmanship rotates annually between nations divided into regional groupings.

Aims and objectives

The Group was formed with the aim of studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability.

The forum aims to pre-empt the balance of payments problems and turmoil on financial markets by improved coordination of monetary, fiscal, and financial policies.

It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization.

Members of G20

The members of the G20 consist of 19 individual countries plus the European Union (EU).

The 19 member countries of the forum are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.

The European Union is represented by the European Commission and by the European Central Bank.

Its significance

G20 is a major international grouping that brings together 19 of the world’s major economies and the European Union.

Its members account for more than 80% of global GDP, 75% of trade and 60% of population.

India and G20

India has been a member of the G20 since its inception in 1999.