To compensate the loss of green cover in Jammu and Kashmir, many youth volunteers have joined hands to plant rare Deodar saplings across the Kashmir valley.
This year so far, around one lakh saplings have been planted in Kashmir alone by these volunteers.
They began planting trees in different districts, schools, colleges and barren hillocks, which until a couple of decades ago, used to be full of Deodar or Himalayan Cedar trees.
“We have a target of planting around one crore conifer saplings. We do not get any funds from the government nor do we run an NGO. We are a group of volunteers who think we cannot afford to lose the greenery of the Valley,” said one of the volunteers, who wished anonymity.
He said the deforestation is a big issue in the J&K state.
“It is a big concern, due to which climatic changes are expected. So, instead of doing lip services, we are working actively in the field.”
They also said that instead of arranging so-called seminars explaining only the importance of trees, we have already planted one lakh of Deodar on the hills and other places across the valley.
Under the title of “Save Environment, Save Kashmir,” a campaign page running on Facebook, the page says hundreds of volunteers joined hands and planted the saplings in different parts of the valley.
Also, apart from planting and distributing the saplings, the volunteers have adopted a barren hill in Rathsun area of Budgam and want to convert it into “First Oxygen Zone” of Jammu and Kashmir.
Recently, Jammu and Kashmir had not featured among the top 15 green states of India, which has a forest cover of more than 33 per cent of their geographical area.
Despite having great lush green forests, the state was not on the green list due to the massive deforestation.
According to the study conducted by Forest Survey of India titled “India State of Forest -2017”, only 15 states in the country have featured in the list of the green list states of India with the forest cover of more than 33 per cent of their entire geographical area.
Lakshadweep has topped the list with 90 per cent of the forest cover, followed by Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur with 86.27 %, 81.73 %, 79.96 % and 77.69 %, respectively.
JK presently has a forest cover of 23, 241square kilometers, which is 10.46 per cent of its geographical area of 1,01,387 square kilometers.
The state though has seen an increase of 253 square kilometers during last two years from 22,988 square kilometers to 23, 241 square kilometers.
At the national level, the forest cover of India is 7, 08,273 square kilometers, which is 21.54% of the country’s geographical area.
The report also reveals that the forest in Jammu and Kashmir were moderately dense compared to states with dense forests.
The state despite having witnessed depletion in the forest cover during last few decades lacks Forest Policy to formulate plans for preserving and enhancing the green cover.
