Gurugram: Developers who plant trees in the Matri of Van de Stad will now be able to earn green credits, said the Environment Minister of the Bhutenender Yadav on Thursday. Matri van comprises approximately 750 hectares in the Aravalis. The project was launched as a “memory forest” where organizations and companies could plant young trees in the name of lovers or under CSR. Until now it was a symbolic, voluntary effort. With the new announcement, plantations that are increased here can generate credits, similar to carbon credits that can be sold or used for future environmental obligations.
Yadav added that if plantations in affected land reach 40% of crown coverage within five years, they are eligible as green credits. This applies in the city.
The Green Credit Program, introduced in October 2023, was designed to attribute the market value to a wide range of eco recovery activities, including water conservation, sustainable agriculture, waste management and afforestation. Each initiative generates credits based on specific performance statistics, such as the survival rates for Boom, the restored areas or preserved sources.
Officials have announced that detailed guidelines for Matri of-Linked-Credits will soon be released, with the basic line criteria for surviving trees and independent verification processes. In Haryana, efforts have been made to promote beads in various districts to stimulate green coverage in Aravalis and Shivaliks.
However, the policy raises uncomfortable questions: Should a natural forest landscape such as the aravalis, already under construction and mining, be treated as a site for private credit claims? Environmental activists said this policy in Aravalis can open a back door for developers and the ecological integrity of the region can endanger and at the same time produce “paper green” profit on credit weds.
They also said that locations for green patches are located in forest areas that require ecological restoration, not topping planting companies. “Developers can see this as an opportunity to carry out plantations in the aravalis, but in fact it can be a way to put their grip on Bosland under the guise of compliance,” said Col SS Oberoi (RETD), an environmental activist.
Critics claimed that the move could lead to a form of land, whereby forest areas are branded or controlled by private entities in the name of planting trees. “If industries and developers start to perform plantation in the Aravalis, what is the task of the forest department?” Said Vaishali Rana, an environmental activist, adding that although the government promotes the regulation as a green opportunity, it is threatening to be a new step that prioritizes compliance numbers over real preservation.
Monoculture or fast-growing plantations, according to activists, can be ecologically harmful in semi-arid zones such as the aravalis, which is a natural barrier against desert formation and a charging zone of the groundwater. The concept of “green credits” is poor when applied in an ecologically sensitive area, they said.
“Planting trees is not enough. It is because they survive after three to five years, and whether local species are used. It is also not necessary in the aravalis to perform plantations. What is really necessary is to deposit the area and to leave it undisturbed, and the regeneration will take place in the ideal for Aravalis,” said Sunil.
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