World Forestry day is celebrated in forests around the World on 21 March each year. This is the day of the autumn equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. This day commemorates the contribution and value of forests and forestry to the community. Management of Forest has been recognized in the Earth summit at Rio and it has been stressed the need for enhancing the tree cover of 25% in the year 2007 and to 33% by 2012 to combat the global warming. 

The UN General Assembly has proclaimed 2011 as the International Year of Forests (IYF) and has invited Governments all over, the United Nations, NGOs, the private sector and the public at large to come together. The overall objective is to raise awareness and strengthen the sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all type of forests for the benefit of current and future generations. During the year stress will be put on to consider the benefits of forests to the community – such as catchment protection, providing habitat for plants, areas for recreation, education and scientific study, and as a source of many products including timber and honey. World Forestry Day also aims to provide opportunities for people to learn how forests can be managed and used sustainably for these many purposes

India’s National Mission for Green India was approved by the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change in Feb 2011. The Mission is one of eight missions under India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) . The Mission aims to increase the quantity and quality of 10 million ha. of forest area, achieving an annual CO2 sequestration of 50 to 60 million tonnes by 2020. 

It proposes a fundamental shift in mindset from our traditional focus of increasing the quantity of forest cover, to increasing the quality of our forest cover. A major focus is to increase cover and density of our medium density forests and degraded forests. 

The Mission proposes to take a holistic view of forestry, and not merely focus on plantations meet carbon sequestration targets. There is a clear focus on preserving and enhancing biodiversity, and restoring other ecosystems and habitats including grasslands/scrub , mangrove forests, and the wetland. 

There is a major focus on decentralization, and a conscious attempt to involve local governance institutions in the implementation of the Mission. We cannot forget that forests are the main source of livelihood to over 200 million people in our country, and hence any initiative to conserve our forests and improve their quality cannot succeed without the active participation of local communities. 

The Mission also plans to engage the public citizens and civil society in the design of the Mission itself. The objectives of the Mission are three-fold: 

• Double the area to be taken up for afforestation /eco-restoration in India in the next 10 years, taking the total area to be afforested or eco-restored to 20 million ha. (i.e., 10 million ha of additional forest/non- forest area to be treated by the Mission, in addition to the 10 Million ha which is likely to be treated by Forest Department and other agencies through other interventions). 

• Increase the GHG removals by India’s forests to 6.35% of India’s annual total GHG emissions by the year 2020 (an increase of 1.5% over what it would be in the absence of the Mission). This would require an increase in above and below ground biomass in 10 million ha of forests / ecosystems , resulting in increased carbon sequestration o f43 million tons CO2- e annually. 

• Enhance the resilience of forests/ecosystems being treated under the Mission- enhance infiltration, groundwater recharge, stream and spring flows, biodiversity value, provisioning of services (fuel wood, fodder, timber, NTFPs, etc.) to help local communities adapt to climatic variability.