This story is from June 5, 2021

Issue guidelines to protect saplings for 8 years, activists urge UP govt

Issue guidelines to protect saplings for 8 years, activists urge UP govt
Noida: Ahead of World Environment Day, environmentalists in the city have urged the Uttar Pradesh government to formulate guidelines for the protection of newly planted saplings.
They claim to have observed that not all saplings — planted in a breeze to bag international records or during state-wide plantation drives in monsoon — survive.
As a result, the environmentalists have highlighted that apart from the Uttar Pradesh Tree Protection Act 1976, which protects large mature trees from getting felled, the state should also issue guidelines to protect newly planted saplings for at least eight years until they firm enough to become adult trees.

“Many saplings dry up due to lack of post-plantation watering and care. Even if they grow up to become trees, they get easily uprooted in case of storms or strong winds. Every year, UP plants lakhs of saplings during the plantation drive, of which at least 10-20% dry up,” environmental lawyer, Akash Vashist said.
Vasisht, in his letter to the chief secretary, cited the Indian State of Forest Report 2019 to substantiate his claim.
“As many as 11 districts have recorded a decline, ranging between -1% to -2%, in their forest/tree covers, as per the Indian State of Forest Report 2019 of the Forest Survey of India, over the 2017 assessment. Significantly, 15 districts, including Gautam Budh Nagar, have witnessed no change in their tree covers over the same period.
Ghaziabad’s tree cover has decreased by 0.78% while no change has been witnessed by Gautam Budh Nagar,” said Vashist.
“We have been highlighting the issue for years. We should first learn to conserve our plantations before going for aggressive plantation drives,” Vikrant Tongad, a city-based environmentalist, said.
However, forest department officials claimed that the planted saplings are monitored regularly.
“The saplings are monitored for survival rates in our district and there is no massive episode of drying up of saplings so far,” an official said.
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