Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo on Friday directed officials to frame a comprehensive action plan based on scientific principles for the rehabilitation of degraded forest areas within a stipulated time frame.

Dulloo chaired a meeting of the Forest, Ecology & Environment Department to assess its functioning and also reviewed the progress in the ongoing conservation measures for the protection of lakes and wetlands in the Union Territory.

Advertisement

To enhance the efficiency of forest land management, the Chief secretary instructed the officials to expedite the survey and demarcation of forest lands by installing boundary pillars and digitising the records. This step aims to effectively curb encroachments and safeguard forest resources, he maintained.

Focusing on afforestation efforts, Dulloo asked the department to accelerate plantation drives to meet the ambitious target of planting 1.5 crore saplings by the end of the upcoming plantation season. He stressed that achieving this goal without any delay was imperative for environmental sustainability.

He emphasised the need to ensure the maximum survival of planted saplings by adopting protective measures, including fencing of reforested areas.

Highlighting the ecological importance of wetlands, the Chief Secretary underscored their crucial role in the ecosystem and called for rigorous conservation efforts. He directed the officials to ensure proper demarcation and protection of wetlands, along with improving water quality and other relevant parameters to enhance their sustainability.

Regarding Wular Lake conservation, the Chief Secretary instructed both the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and the Commissioner Secretary, Forests, to personally visit the site. They were asked to review the status of the ongoing conservation works and devise a mechanism to accelerate their execution. He observed that Wular Lake, being Asia’s largest freshwater lake, necessitates urgent and effective conservation measures and has a scope of attracting a large number of tourists.

Regarding the conservation of Kishtwar High Altitude National Park, the Chief Secretary emphasised the need for increased manpower and further efforts to achieve tangible results. He pointed out that the scale of work required exceeds the current workforce, necessitating the moving of additional resources on the ground to meet the objectives set for its mitigation.
Additionally, the Chief Secretary stressed the early approval and implementation of the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) in coordination with other departments. He instructed for formation of an inter-departmental coordination panel responsible for ensuring the smooth execution of the plan by aligning available funds with the envisioned schemes.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Suresh Kumar Gupta highlighted that the UT has a forest area of around 20,194 sq km (47.8% of geographical area) with a tree cover of 151.8 million trees as per the Draft ToF Report, 2023.

The PCCF divulged that a total of 81.27 lakh saplings had been planted till January this year covering an area of 5,703 ha. He further revealed that an area of 2,150 sq km (as of 2019) had been prioritised as degraded forests, of which 775 sq km had been treated during the last 5 years and the balance area to be treated is 1,375 sq km with the additional support of Rs 78 crore per year for next 10 years.