Government aims 15% increase in Uttar Pradesh's green cover

LUCKNOW: The Yogi government aims to increase the state's green cover by 15% in its five-year tenure. Given the resolve, the state has been planting more trees with every passing year. The plantation efforts of the government have led to an increase in the state's green cover. As per the India State of Forest Report 2019, the green cover increased by 344.6 sq km in UP between 2015 and 2019.
The report showed UP going green outside forest areas. While the 'very dense forest' in the state remained unchanged from the 2017 assessment the 2019 Indian State of Forest Report (ISFR) showed an increase of 126.6 sq km in 'moderately dense' and 'open forest' category. Scrub also showed an increase. Green cover in Lucknow went up by 13.8 sq km, according to ISFR-2019, a biennial report released by Forest Survey of India (FSI) to assess the country's forest resources.
This year, the state was to plant 25 crore saplings. However, on the occasion of World Environment Day on Friday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said the state would plant 30 crore saplings, while 25 crore saplings would be planted in one day in the first week of July.
In the last plantation season, the government had created a record by planting 23 crore saplings. In 2018, over 11 crore trees and in 2017, over 5.7 crore trees were planted.