Massive plantation drive to increase Surat’s forest cover

Surat: A massive plantation drive was recently carried out by forest department in Surat with an aim to increase the district’s forest cover from 11.3 per cent to 15 per cent. Around 10.5 lakh saplings of bamboo (25%), teak (20%) and kher (20%) were planted on 1,586 hectares to add to the district’s present forest cover on 50,000 hectares of land in July. The systematic afforestation drive tried to fill open spaces where gaps got created naturally and saw plantation of 35 % saplings of adushi, brahmi, ashwagandha, custard apple, cashew, almond and guava in the periphery of the forest and also mangroves on 110 hectares.
Puneet Nayyar, deputy conservator of forests (DCF), Surat, said, “We planted only those saplings which were suitable to that particular soil. Carbon sequestration, a process that captures and stores atmospheric carbon dioxide, in the soil here made us go for saplingsthat have earning potential too and benefit the local joint forest management committee.”