UN-HABITAT launches a tree plantation campaign in the communities affected by the floods of 2010 and 2011. The campaign intends to extend to 400 villages with 200,000 trees. As part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation process, trees are being cut from nearby forests of affected areas without any plans of reforestation. Cutting of trees contributes to increased soil erosion, drought, water logging and occurrence of erratic rains. This also results in a decrease in carbon sink through significant increase in carbon dioxide levels and other associated gases.
Families in the affected areas, besides using timber for the shelter construction, use fodder and wood as fuel, which results in deforestation. This acts as a catalyst towards global warming and has a negative impact on the environment, the local economy, flood resilience and sustenance of the extremely poor. To mitigate such negative impacts and its associated consequences, it is imperative to mobilize affected communities to plant trees at places such as the kitchen gardens, schools, mosques, or communal land. The current success rate of tree plantation is very low as individuals are not involved in plantation. UN-HABITAT has thus seized the opportunity to launch a massive tree plantation campaign with participation from communities reaching out to as many as 30,000 families across the country.