U'khand hopes for funds from Centre

With the country rapidly transforming itself into a major carbon sink, states can now hope for huge funds from the Centre for maintaining natural green cover.

Uttarakhand is among the first few states that would receive Rs 83 crore under Compensatory Afforestation (Fund) Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) as part of the first installment.

Uttarakhand is seeking a total of Rs 783 crore under CAMPA. Other states would also get money under CAMPA, Union Minister of state for Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said after meeting Uttarakhand Chief Minister R P Nishank last week.

The central funds under CAMPA have increased to Rs 11,000 crore, said Ramesh.

According to a new report released by the Ministry of Environment and Forests here, the Centre has already launched a landmark fund for the regeneration and sustainable management of forests. This is prompted by reports that India’s forests serve as a major sink of carbon dioxide.

The report, ‘India’s Forest and Tree Cover’, said that from 1995 to 2005, the carbon stocks stored in the forests and trees had increased from 6,245 million tonnes (MT) to 6,662 MT, registering an annual increment of 38 MT of carbon or 138 MT of carbon dioxide.

“This is a remarkable achievement for India,” said Jagdish Kishwan, director general of Indian Council of Forestry and Educational Research (ICFRE) here, who has compiled the report along with other experts.

The report also said India could get Rs 6,000 crore every year for its forest sink assuming the value of $7 per tonne of carbon dioxide.

India’s forest and tree cover is enough to neutralise 11.25 per cent of the country’s total green house gas emissions at 1994 level, it added.