Organisations interested in undertaking tree plantation activities in the Aravalli hills can approach the Union environment ministry under the Green Credit scheme, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav said on Wednesday.
Explaining the mechanism, Yadav said that any organisation willing to carry out afforestation on degraded forest land in line with forest department management plans would be eligible for green credits if it manages to achieve at least 40 percent canopy cover within four to five years. He added that the initiative is already underway in the Aravallis, with afforestation work covering about 750 acres in Gurugram and another 250 acres near the Manesar Industrial Area.
Addressing concerns around mining, the minister clarified that no mining activity is permitted in the Aravalli region within Delhi and that this position will not change in the future. He also noted that mining will remain prohibited in most districts of Haryana.
Yadav pointed out that around 97 square kilometres of Aravalli revenue land in Haryana, stretching from Naurangpur to Nuh, has been identified for afforestation and notified as a Protected Forest. He said several degraded patches across the Aravallis could be restored under the Green Credit programme.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the environment ministry had opened the door for both private and government entities to lease forest land for afforestation and timber-related activities without paying mandatory environmental compensation charges. In a communication sent to state governments on January 2, the ministry said that afforestation and silvicultural activities carried out under approved state plans would now be treated as forestry activities. This reclassification means such projects would not attract compensatory afforestation obligations or net present value fees, which are usually imposed to offset forest loss and ecological damage.
Eco restoration roadmap for the Aravallis
On Wednesday, Yadav also unveiled a new eco restoration framework for the Aravalli landscape, drawing on pilot projects carried out in four villages of Gurugram. The framework aims to provide a model that can be replicated across the 670-kilometre-long mountain range.
Titled A Report on Eco restoration of the Aravalli Landscape, the document was prepared by the Sankala Foundation after detailed field surveys and consultations with local stakeholders in Sakatpur, Naurangpur, Shikohpur, and Gairatpur Bas.
The framework outlines a multi-dimensional approach that includes forest and biodiversity management, control of invasive species, water resource conservation, diversification of livelihoods, improved urban planning, and adaptive monitoring systems. According to the report, the proposed model combines scientific data, community participation, and policy alignment to restore degraded forest areas while balancing ecological, social, and economic needs.
Officials said the findings will be used to develop a comprehensive eco-restoration plan that can be implemented across all four Aravalli states in 29 districts.
Field assessments in the Gurugram villages revealed that forest patches are severely degraded and fragmented, with invasive species such as Prosopis juliflora, Lantana camara, and Parthenium hysterophorus dominating large areas. The spread of these species has significantly reduced native biodiversity. The report also noted that all villages depend entirely on groundwater for irrigation, contributing to falling water tables and further stressing forest ecosystems. More than 43 percent of households rely on forests for fuelwood, fodder and medicinal plants, with women playing a central role in managing these resources despite limited alternative livelihood options.
Widespread degradation across the range
The report also brings together data highlighting the extensive degradation of the Aravalli range, which runs through Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, and acts as a natural barrier against the eastward spread of the Thar Desert.
Since 1970, the range has lost over 40 percent of its forest cover, largely due to tree cutting and illegal construction that has broken habitat continuity. In Haryana and Delhi, ridge forests are now punctuated by real estate projects and highways.
Large-scale extraction of building materials such as granite, quartzite, and sand has further damaged the landscape. In Rajasthan alone, about 2,400 mining leases were active within or near the Aravalli hills until court interventions brought many of them to a halt. Between 1999 and 2019, overall forest cover declined by nearly one percent, while the central Aravallis have lost 32 percent of their cover since 1975.
In Rajasthan, a quarter of the hills have degraded since the late 1960s. A 2024 report by a Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee found that 31 of 128 hills in the state have effectively disappeared due to human activity. In Haryana, desertification affected 8.2 percent of the land by 2018-19, with more than 5.7 lakh hectares of the Aravallis lost by 2019. Projections suggest that degradation could increase by another 22 percent by 2059 if corrective measures are not accelerated.
