The State government has spent over Rs 44 crore for conservation of forest cover in the last two years and another Rs 200 crore has been earmarked for conservation effort, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said.
Speaking at the launch of GREEN (Grassroot level Response Towards Ecosystem Enhancement and Nurturing) Meghalaya Plus scheme held in Tura today he said, “We are conserving the forest, rather than wait to carry out afforestation projects in future.”
Stating that the government has laid foundation and have initiated programmes that have benefited the people that have led to accelerated growth and development, he said, “There is a huge turnaround in the size of our economy today. As a government, we are taking advantage of different funds from state, centre and other external agencies for the growth of our state.”
Citing that development of different sectors is important which will push economic growth, he said, “We have to be responsible towards the environment and work in harmony to balance nature and development”.
He also urged the community to actively participate in a responsible manner to protect and conserve the forest cover.
GREEN Meghalaya plus is part of state government’s initiative – Payment for Eco System Services (PES), under which incentive of upto Rs 20,000 per hectare per year will be disbursed to communities and individuals for conservation of forest cover.
Green Meghalaya plus envisages to include additional expansion of 50,000 hectares (500 sqkm) of forest cover under conservation.
The salient feature of PES 2.0 is the increased area coverage for participation. Earlier the scheme required a minimum of 2 hectares of forest, the new guidelines reduced this to just 1 hectare, allowing smaller landowners and communities to take part.
In the past over 3000 individuals/communities benefited from the scheme and conserved more than 54,000 hectares of natural forest.
During the programme, cheques to beneficiaries under CM Elevate, Focus and Payment for Ecosystem Services were distributed.
