Telangana to embark on reforestation to improve green cover

Telangana will take up reforestation of forest lands allotted to tribes under a special legislation, as part of efforts to improve the green cover.

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Tuesday approved a proposal for collaborative research on reforestation of ROFR (Recognition of Forest Rights) lands.

The government, through the forest department, will promote planting of trees by the individuals and communities in these lands as most of these lands are not having irrigation facilities and are poor in fertility and productivity.

"This is with a view to bring these lands under tree cover and as part of the Haritha Haram project to increase the tree cover in the state from 24 percent to 33 percent," said a statement from the chief minister's office.

An area spread over 40 hectares will be set apart at Mulugu forest in Medak district for the collaborative research between the forest and horticulture departments.

Forest rights over 3.41 lakh hectares of forest land were recognized in favour of about one lakh people and 744 communities in the state since 2008 under Scheduled Tribes and other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

The forest department with collaboration from horticulture university take up experiments with different types of horticulture, silviculture and agriculture species so as to improve the economic status of the individuals and communities and also to maximize and harness the productivity of these lands.