India 9th in world tree planting

NEW DELHI: India has been ranked ninth in the tree planting roll of honour in a campaign to plant a billion trees, which was launched by the United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP) in November 2006. The country has registered 96 million trees.

Under this plan, civil society and governments are asked to register the number of trees that have been planted in their respective countries. So far, 167 countries have participated in this programme. The initial target set by the UNEP was to plant at least one billion trees worldwide each year..

After the campaign hit the two billion mark in May 2008, the UNEP decided to set a new goal of seven billion trees, which is one for every person on the planet. The four billion mark was reached in May 2009.

India, however, could be much higher in the ranking, according to UNEP officials who say that the country does not formally register or report all its campaigns. ���India could have planted a billion of trees already this year,��� Satinder Bindra, director, comm at UNEP, said. ���It would be fantastic if those trees were also registered with the campaign.���