Context

• As India charts its path toward sustainable development while pursuing rapid economic growth, forests are gaining renewed prominence in the country’s climate and ecological agenda.
• The revised Green India Mission (GIM) aims to restore 25 million hectares of degraded forest and non-forest land by 2030, aligning with India's pledge to create an additional carbon sink of up to 3.39 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.
• However, the success of this mission will depend not only on the number of trees planted, but also on how restoration is conceptualised, implemented, and sustained.
• With climate change reducing forest productivity and communities increasingly demanding participation, India stands at a defining moment in shaping its forest-restoration paradigm.

India’s Restoration Context and Climate Urgency

• Recent scientific research underscores the need for high-quality ecological restoration.
• A 2025 study by IIT Kharagpur, supported by IIT Bombay and BITS Pilani, revealed a 12% decline in photosynthetic efficiency in dense forests due to rising temperatures and drying soils.
• This finding challenges the simplistic idea that more trees equal more carbon sinks, instead highlighting the need for resilient, climate-adaptive forests.
• India has made measurable progress over the last decade, with forest and tree cover increasing from 24.16% in 2015 to 25.17% in 2023.
• Yet, this growth has often prioritised plantation numbers over ecological integrity, making quality of restoration central to future success.

Pillars of Forest Restoration Efforts in India

• Community Participation: The Social Foundation
  • Forest restoration in India is inseparable from the lives of nearly 200 million people who depend on forests for subsistence.
  • Laws such as the Forest Rights Act (2006) empower communities to protect and manage their landscapes.
  • However, many plantation initiatives continue to bypass local consent, creating social conflict, legal challenges, and mistrust.
  • Examples from states like Odisha, where Joint Forest Management Committees participate in planning and share revenues, and Chhattisgarh, which integrates biodiverse plantations and supports tribal livelihoods, illustrate that community-centred restoration strengthens both ecological and social outcomes.
• Ecological Design and Native Species
  • India’s earlier afforestation programmes relied heavily on monocultures of eucalyptus and acacia, fast-growing but ecologically harmful, water-depleting, and biodiversity-suppressing.
  • The revised GIM advocates a shift toward native, site-specific species, a crucial step in building ecosystem resilience.
  • States like Tamil Nadu, which has nearly doubled its mangrove cover, demonstrate the value of well-designed, ecologically informed restoration.
  • Yet, success will require skilled forest personnel, ecological training, and improved capacity in state forest departments.
• Financing and Institutional Alignment
  • India’s restoration ambitions are backed by substantial resources; the CAMPA Fund alone holds ₹95,000 crore.
  • However, utilisation remains uneven and inefficient, with Delhi using only 23% of its approved funds between 2019 and 2024. The challenge is not funding alone, but smart, accountable deployment.
  • Innovative financing initiatives—such as Himachal Pradesh’s biochar-carbon credits programme and Uttar Pradesh’s carbon-market-linked village plantation efforts, signal emerging models for climate financing and local economic integration.
  • To strengthen implementation, India needs:
    • Transparent public monitoring dashboards
    • Training for frontline forest staff
    • Community-led planning and monitoring
    • Flexible use of CAMPA funds for people-centric restoration

Conclusion

• India possesses strong laws, institutional frameworks, financial resources, and promising state-level models. What it needs now is alignment, capacity, and inclusive governance.
• As India moves toward Viksit Bharat 2047, forests must be understood not as environmental luxuries, but as economic and ecological capital essential for the country’s future.
• The restoration of 25 million hectares will not be easy; Yet, pursued with scientific rigour, social inclusion, and ecological wisdom, it has the potential to redefine global restoration practices, empower communities, and build forests that are resilient, biodiverse, and climate-adaptive.