SHILLONG: At a time when the forest cover in Meghalaya has shown a marginal decline of 0.16 per cent in the last two years, the Forest department is still awaiting a nod from the state government to utilise 10 per cent of the compensatory afforestation fund for afforestation purposes.
The India State of Forest Report, 2019, released last month had stated that Meghalaya has 17,119 sq km of forest and it has declined by 27 sq km since 2017 when the report was released last.
It may be mentioned that almost 95 per cent of the state’s forest cover is under the jurisdiction of the three autonomous district councils in the state.
Speaking on the matter, Forest and Environment Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said, “We cannot deny that deforestation is taking place but the main problem is that most of the forest land does not belong to the state government.”
He however said that the department has requested the government to sanction at least 10 per cent of the Rs 163-crore fund under the Compensatory Afforestation Act for acquiring land in catchment areas and other afforestation projects.
“We are yet to receive any communication from the government,” he added.
Urging people to adopt measures to protect the forest cover, the minister added that the situation had not become alarming and people and the government would have to work together to protect and expand the forest cover.
Earlier, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar while reacting to the India State of Forest Report had downplayed the decline of forest cover in the North East saying 70-80 per cent of the land is under forest cover and the decrease is mainly because of shifting cultivation.
