Bhubaneswar:The State government has allocated an amount of Rs 610.69 crore during the financial year 2024-25 afforestation programme including maintenance of previous year plantations in the State.
The Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change Department has allocated the fund in favour of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, official sources said.
Out of this an amount of Rs. 363.49 crore has been utilized by the end of November, 2024.
To encourage community involvement, one Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely Green India Mission (GIM) has been implemented in Odisha covering plantation over an area of 17992.56 hectares with active participation of 124 VSSs.
Under Odisha Forestry Sector Development Society (OFSDS), two projects have been implemented involving communities for conservation, sustainable management of forests and sustainable development of livelihood of forest fringe communities.
Plantations over an area of 41952 hectares have been achieved by involving 1211 VSSs and 10 EDCs under OFSDP-Il and plantations over an area of 20980 hectares have been achieved by involving 4601 VSSs under Ama Jangal Yojana.
In order to tackle Climate Change impact in Odisha, the FE&CC Department has implemented 5235.5 hectares plantation in coastal districts during last three years. Similarly, 61466.92 hectares of plantation have been taken up during the last three years in tribal districts, the sources said.
For climate adaptation and resilience during this current year (2024-25), an amount of Rs 610.69 crore has been allocated for taking up plantations under different schemes and 30109.64 hectares has been achieved, they said.
Besides, 1914.50 road km Avenue plantation, 5.53 lakh UTP plantation has also been taken up. Moreover, 227.07 lakh seedlings have been distributed to public and institutions.
To combat the impacts of Climate Change, the Department has taken steps for formulation and implementation of State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) in the State.
Odisha was the first state in India to develop a State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) for 2010-15 and later updated it for 2021-2030.
The updated SAPCC aligns with the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), providing a long-term strategy.
This comprehensive plan was formulated through an extensive consultative process involving collaboration with 11 key stakeholder departments, including Agriculture, Revenue, Energy, Fisheries, Forest, Health, Industries, Mines, Transport, Urban Development, and Water Resources, to prioritize adaptation and mitigation strategies and enhance the state’s climate resilience, the Department officials said.
To address Climate Change impacts particularly in the coastal region of the state, one Green Climate Fund (GCF) project is being carried out by the department. The Green Climate Funded “Enhancing Climate Resilience of India’s coastal communities (ECRICC)” project is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India & Green Climate Fund (GCF).
The State, Forest, Environment & Climate Change department is implementing this project in 7 project landscapes to enhance the climate resilience of coastal communities in 4 coastal districts (Balasore, Puri, Kendrapada & Ganjam) of Odisha vulnerable to cyclone and sea level rise.
The ECRICC Project is a collaborative effort of MoEFCC, Forest, Environment & Climate Change Department, & Green Climate Fund (GCF) to address both adaptation and mitigation strategies. The total fund allocated to the GCF funded ECRICC project is 261 crore, they said.
The project is being implemented by the Forest, Environment & Climate Change Department.
At the State level this is being monitored by the State Level Steering Committee (SLSC) for Climate Change headed by the Chief Secretary, Odisha and at the District level the project is being reviewed and monitored by the District Level Coordination Committee (DLCC) headed by the District Collector in four districts.