This initiative under the State Forest Department will be planting one lakh tree saplings in the next 24 hours. On the occasion, the chief minister said that the campaign is being held as part of the Van Mahotsav celebration and has set the target of planting one crore trees within the next five years.

While speaking on the biodiversity richness of the state, the chief minister said that Arunachal is known globally for its huge forest cover and is considered as one of the eighteen ‘biodiversity hotspots’ in the world. 

He said the forest carbon stock in Arunachal comes to 148.52 tonnes per hectare, which is highest in the country and whose value in terms of carbon credit is about 6 Euros per tonne works out to 48000 Crore rupees annually. 

While highlighting the relevance of forest in tribal societies he said that both are mutually interlinked culturally and for survival also. He said the forest is vital for tribal people for their everyday needs. 

He called upon the forest department to come up with a vision to preserve this intricate link and to enable the tribal people to reap economic benefit from the forest in a sustainable way.