GUWAHATI: The Assam Government has allocated a total sum of ₹10 crore to the Assam Agroforestry Development Board for the next five years to implement the Commercial Planting of Trees Scheme.
As per the scheme, trees having commercial value will be planted in all the schools, colleges and Government offices in the state.
To bring innovative reforms in the management of Trees Outside Forest, the Assam Government has notified Assam Trees Outside Forest (Sustainable Management) Rules 2022.
These rules were framed to encourage farmers to grow trees on non-forest lands by simplifying the processes of registration of plantations, grant of felling permission and issuance of Certificate of Origin through contactless public delivery mode.
“This will strengthen the green economy by weaning away industrial supplies from reserve forest resources,” the Finance Minister of Assam said yesterday while presenting the Assam Budget 2023-24 at the state assembly.
As per the new rules, over 57 species of commercially important and locally abundant trees shall be promoted for plantation by any citizen including farmers in the state with no restriction on felling for their own bonafide or commercial purposes.
“I believe that the simplified procedures and a single window clearance mechanism will bring back all the primary, secondary and composite wood-based industries that had shifted from Assam to other States in the last three decades,” the Finance Minister further stated.
