National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board (NAEB)

The National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board (NAEB) is in charge of promoting afforestation, tree planting, ecological restoration, and eco-development activities in the nation, with a focus on degraded forest areas and lands adjacent to the forest areas, national parks, sanctuaries, and other protected areas, as well as ecologically fragile areas such as the Western Himalayas, Aravallis, Western Ghats, etc.

What is NAEB?

The National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board (NAEB) was founded in August 1992 with the goal of promoting afforestation, tree planting, ecological restoration, and eco-development activities throughout the nation.

• Specific programs for promoting afforestation and management techniques have been created by the National Afforestation and Eco-development Board.

• It helps states create customized afforestation and management plans, as well as eco-development packages, to increase biomass production through a collaborative planning process called Joint Forest Management.

• The responsibility for encouraging afforestation, tree planting, ecological restoration, and eco-development activities in the nation falls on the National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board (NAEB).

• The NAEP is a centerpiece program of the National Afforestation and Eco-development Board (NAEB), which provides the implementing agencies, the Forest Development Agencies (FDAs), with material and capacity-building support.

Functions of NAEB

There are several functions of National Afforestation and Eco-development Board as follows-

• Develop methods for ecological restoration of lands nearby and in degraded forest areas through methodical planning and implementation in a cost-efficient way;

• Restore the nation's forest cover by natural regeneration or suitable intervention for ecological security and to meet the needs of rural people for fuel wood, fodder, and other things;

• To supply the need for these things, restore fuel wood, fodder, timber, and other forest products to the degraded forest and adjacent areas;

• Support the development of novel and appropriate methods for the regeneration and development of damaged forest areas and surrounding lands;

• Increase public awareness of the need to promote afforestation and eco-development and aid in the development of this movement with the aid of nonprofit and non-governmental organizations.

• To coordinate and oversee the action plans for ecological restoration, tree planting, and eco-development; and

• Take all other steps required to support the nation's eco-development, ecological restoration, and tree-planting initiatives.

Schemes and Programs of NAEB

There are two main scheme of NAEB as given below −

National Afforestation Programme (NAP)

It is NAEB's flagship program since it helps Forest Development Agencies (FDAs), which are the main organizations in charge of institutionalizing joint forest management, by giving them physical support and improving their capacity.

• Since 2000, NAP has been the Ministry's primary afforestation initiative, implemented across all of India, for reforestation in specific degraded forest regions with public engagement and decentralized forest management.

Eco Development Forces Scheme

The Ministry of Defense launched the Eco-Development Forces (EDF) Scheme in the 1980s as a program for ecological restoration of terrains rendered challenging by extreme degradation, remoteness, or a challenging law and order situation.

Conclusion

To encourage afforestation, the National Afforestation and Eco-development Board have developed specialized plans and management strategies. It focuses on restoring territories nearby, including national parks, sanctuaries, and other protected areas, as well as damaged forest regions.

FAQs

Q1. In which year did afforestation start in India?

Ans. The Ministry's main afforestation program, NAP, has been undertaken on a pan-Indian basis since 2000 for afforestation in designated degraded forest areas with community involvement and decentralized forest governance.

Q2. Who launched National afforestation Programme?

Ans. The National Afforestation Programme (NAP), the National Mission for a Green India (GIM), and the Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme are the three main forest development programs being carried out by the Ministry of Environment (FFPM).

Q3. What is National afforestation Programme?

Ans. The National Afforestation Programme (NAP) scheme's overarching goal is the ecological restoration of degraded forests and the development of forest resources with people's participation, with a focus on enhancing the livelihoods of the communities living along the forest edge, particularly the poor.

Q4. What is the importance of afforestation?

Ans. By reforestation, various environmental problems including arid land and soil erosion can be addressed as well as the effects of climate change. One trillion new trees may remove one-third of the CO2 emissions produced by humans, according to research from Crowther Lab.