Plantation of broad-leaved trees being encouraged

Uttarakhand government is making efforts to expand the area under forests of broad-leaved trees to achieve the target of 30,000 hectare as fixed in 11th Five Year Plan.

While replying to a question by Congress MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant told the Assembly that plantation of broad-leaved trees like Oak, Spruce and Fer are being encouraged under a new regeneration scheme of 11th Five Year Plan.

He said the government has so far spent Rs 2 crore under the scheme and planted such trees on 1350 hectare of forest land since 2007. The broad-leaves trees are considered better for the ecology and government is trying to encourage the plantation of broad-leaved trees in forests especially those where Chir pine is found in abundance. In this regard, Pant said the area under forests of Chir Pine in Uttarakhand is 11 per cent of the total area.