With an increasing attention towards biodiversity, on International Day for Biological Diversity, JICA India Office revealed its plan to further support biodiversity conservation. An impact study is going to be launched in June for reviewing a decade long support for Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Conservation and Greening Project (TBGP). The impact study will be implemented within 6 months, assessing the effectiveness of each project component. The result of the study and key takeaways will be widely shared with Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Forest Department of each state.
Based on successful cases of afforestation activities covering in total 6.6-lakh hectare with 8-lakh beneficiaries wherein JICA had extended its support to the Forest Department, Government of Tamil Nadu for Tamil Nadu Afforestation Project and its Phase 2, it was decided to expand the focus on sustainable biodiversity conservation in the subsequent project. JICA committed its financial support for TBGP in 2011.
Since 1991, JICA has supported 31 projects, with 28 state specific projects. The first project carried out a study to facilitate the designation of the Khangchendzonga National Park as a World Heritage site. In 2016, Khangchendzonga was inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list, becoming the first ‘Mixed Heritage’ site of India. Japan’s support to India consists of ODA loans of 270 billion Japanese Yen (approximately Rs 16,300-Crore) since 1991 towards the forestry sector. The total area of afforestation activities under JICA supported projects reaches close to 3 million hectares.
