Chandigarh, October 29: The Punjab government has partnered with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for a ₹792.88-crore initiative aimed at increasing the state’s forest area to 7.5% by 2030. The five-year project, beginning in 2025–26, will focus on large-scale afforestation, biodiversity restoration, and rural employment generation.
Officials said the project aligns with Punjab’s goal of reversing decades of forest loss through sustainable interventions and community participation. It will include plantation drives, soil improvement measures, and the development of green corridors to connect fragmented ecosystems.
The state has already launched several campaigns to promote local participation, including ‘Nanak Bagichis’, ‘Sacred Forests’, and the ‘Punjab Hariyali Lehar’ initiative, under which 28.99 lakh trees have been planted near 3.95 lakh tubewells.
Officials added that 105 Nanak Bagichis and 268 Sacred Forests have been established so far, integrating spiritual and cultural values into environmental protection.
Punjab’s green cover expansion has coincided with the enforcement of the Tree Preservation Policy (2024), which makes compensatory plantation mandatory for development projects. The government said such measures have contributed to the 177.22 sq km increase in tree cover reported by ISFR 2023.
Environmentalists say the JICA partnership marks an important step in institutionalizing Punjab’s greening efforts. “It’s a move from short-term plantation drives to long-term forest management,” one official said, adding that the project is expected to create thousands of jobs in the green economy.
