5 per cent increase in India's forest cover: PM

February 02, 2012 15:17

In what could bring cheers to environmentalists, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the country's forest cover has increased by nearly five per cent between 1997 and 2007.

"I am happy to state that Indias forest cover had increased by nearly 5 per cent between 1997 and 2007 with a small decrease since then.

"We hope to see further accretion with the implementation of the Green India Mission which aims to increase the forest and tree cover by 5 million hectares and improve forest cover on another 5 million hectares," he said addressing the 12th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit.

The prime minister felt that eventually these forests will act as a sink that could absorb 50-60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and offset about 6 per cent of India`s annual emissions.

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