FAC has approved the Green Credit Scheme

The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has approved the Green Credit Scheme. It will allow the Forest Department to outsource the responsibility of reforesting to non-government agencies, if implemented. This scheme will encourage plantation by individuals outside the traditional forest area and will help in meeting international commitments such as Sustainable Development Goals and Nationally Determined Contributions.

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The scheme will also supplement the Green India Mission, which is one of India’s initiatives to combat climate change. Green Credit Scheme allows agencies (private companies, village forest communities etc.) to identify land and grow plantations. After three years, the land would be eligible to be considered as compensatory forest land if it meets the criteria set by the Forest Department. An industry needing forest land could then approach the agency and pay it for parcels of such forested land and this would then be transferred to the Forest Department and be recorded as forest land. In simpler words, it will allow forests to be traded as a commodity.