Port Blair, Feb 09: Bringing together farmers, companies, and other private institutionsto rapidly expand green cover outside of traditional forests in thestate to support global climate change mitigation.February 9, 2023, Chennai: Today, the Government of Tamil Nadu’sForest Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development(USAID) announced in Chennai the launch of the “Trees Outside Forestsin India (TOFI)” program in Tamil Nadu, which will bring togetherfarmers, companies, and other private institutions to rapidly expandtree coverage outside of traditional forests in the state. The newinitiative will enhance carbon sequestration, support localcommunities, and strengthen the climate resilience of agriculture,thereby contributing to global climate change mitigation andadaptation goals.
The State of Tamil Nadu has long placed a high priority on expandingtree cover outside forest areas, as demonstrated by its establishmentof the Green Tamil Nadu Mission and Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission,which aim to tackle the climate crisis and reduce greenhouse gasemissions through a variety of measures, including increased treecover. TOFI will build on the state’s progress and harnessagro forestry to bolster the resilience of farming systems, while alsofurther increasing the income of farmers in Tamil Nadu. Importantly,TOFI will leverage India’s private sector to promote and scaletree-based enterprises and the sale of carbon credits, helping tocreate jobs and boost incomes.
U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Ambassador Elizabeth Jones said, “The UnitedStates is proud to support the Trees Outside Forests in India program,which builds upon decades of U.S.-India cooperation in forestry andclimate-smart agriculture. Expanding tree cover outside of forestareas will contribute to mutual climate change goals, increasingcarbon sequestration as well as farmer incomes.”Attending the launch, Additional Chief Secretary, Department ofForests, Environment and Climate Change, Government of Tamil Nadu, Ms.Supriyasahu said, “The government of Tamil Nadu is giving hugeimpetus to agroforestry and plantations on areas outside of thenotified forest areas. With the state government’s target to increasethe forest and tree cover to 33 percent as per Vision 2023, the TOFIprogram will support the state in achieving its goals while alsoaiding the creation of a balanced ecosystem to advance thesocio-economic development of the state.”
The Trees Outside Forests in India program was launched in September2022 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate ChangeSecretary Leena nandan and then-U.S. Chargé d’Affaires PatriciaLacina. The program will allocate up to $25 million U.S. dollars inseven states including Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha,Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh and is implemented inpartnership with the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry(ICRAF). With the goal of rapidly expanding tree coverage outside oftraditional forests by 2.8 million hectares, the program willcontribute to India’s Nationally Determined Contribution target ofcreating an additional “carbon sink” of 2.5 to 3 billion tons ofcarbon dioxide equivalent by 2030. This new program builds on theenduring U.S.-India partnership to tackle the climate crisis andbolster resilience in the face of climate threats and extreme weatherevents.
