Dr. Arvind Kumar*
Every July, as monsoon clouds gather, photo ops bloom across India, the country dives headfirst into Van Mahotsav, the grand annual plantation ritual. Politicians roll up their sleeves, dig ceremonial pits, and declare green revolutions in the making. The stated goals are always noble capture carbon, boost biodiversity, recharge aquifers, and, of course, impress the evening news. But the uncomfortable question remains: does tree planting really help fight climate change, or are we just digging holes for headlines?
Let’s cut through the foliage: tree planting can help but only if done right. Unfortunately, it often isn’t. Most plantation drives are still treated as box-checking exercises where quantity trumps quality. Take the numbers, for instance. Maharashtra claimed to have planted a staggering 4 crore saplings in a single Van Mahotsav in 2022. Delhi boasted over 2 crore saplings planted between 2018 and 2022, with survival rates supposedly hovering between 60–75% pre-Covid. On paper, it sounds like a leafy utopia. But scratch the surface, and the roots of the problem become painfully clear.
A Billion Saplings or a Billion Missed Opportunities?
A recent report reveals just how uneven and fragile India’s plantation efforts truly are. Sapling survival rates range from a high of 82% in the lush Northeast to just 68–71% in drier zones, and that’s only in the early years. Without proper aftercare, up to 40% of saplings can die within five years. The outlook is even grimmer for tree transplantation. Between 2019 and 2022, Delhi’s heavily publicized transplantation efforts yielded a mere 42.5% survival rate, with some sites like the DTU campus faring disastrously at just 12.6%. Not a single site met the government’s own 80% survival target. In Haryana and similar states, mass plantation drives routinely report survival rates of just 10–20%, making the entire effort feel like a ritual of “plant, forget, repeat.”
But poor survival is only part of the problem. Species selection is often catastrophically flawed. In the race to meet numerical targets, fast-growing, non-native trees like eucalyptus and acacia dominate, chosen for speed, not sustainability. These monocultures deplete groundwater, degrade soil, and support little biodiversity, becoming “green deserts” lush in appearance, barren in function. Yet true greening goes beyond just planting trees; it’s about restoring entire plant communities. Shrubs, grasses, climbers, and groundcover species all play critical roles in sustaining ecosystems. When these layers are ignored, restoration efforts risk becoming ecologically shallow. Native grasslands and scrublands often dismissed as “wastelands” are, in fact, biodiversity hotspots and vital carbon sinks. By prioritizing tree planting at the expense of these diverse systems, we not only distort ecological balance but also forgo the opportunity to build resilient, multi-layered green spaces. It is in this context that Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) offers a vital corrective lens. In fact, I first introduced EbA to a wider audience through my book published by Elsevier London, where I emphasized its transformative potential in aligning ecological preservation with developmental priorities. I had also the opportunity to present the core principles of EbA at the 6th Asia Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum in 2018, held in Manila. These principles integrating development with ecosystem health, adopting flexible management systems, enabling knowledge-based responses, maximizing stakeholder participation, building local resilience, and preserving ecosystem integrity can guide afforestation efforts beyond symbolic planting toward meaningful ecological recovery.
The scale of the damage is staggering. India is now battling over 2,000 alien invasive species, with aggressive intruders like Lantana camara and Prosopis juliflora taking over 44% of forested areas. Rich ecosystems such as Gujarat’s Banni grasslands, once teeming with life have been choked into unproductive thickets. The cumulative cost of this ecological invasion? An estimated $127 billion in damages and control efforts over the past six decades.
Against this backdrop, India’s CAMPA program (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) sets an ambitious target: to restore 26 million hectares of land and sequester 2–3 billion tonnes of CO₂ by 2030. It’s a bold and much-needed vision. But whether it delivers depends on a fundamental shift from chasing plantation numbers to restoring entire ecosystems with intelligence, care, and ecological integrity.
Green Shoots of Real Success
It’s not all bleak, there are shining examples of restoration done right. In Kerala, removing invasive, water-thirsty trees revived dead streams after 30 years. Rao Jodha Desert Park in Jodhpur, once a barren quarry, now flourishes as a thriving native ecosystem. Urban India is also embracing change. The Miyawaki method, a dense, fast-growing, native afforestation technique, is transforming urban plots in Mumbai, Delhi, and Ahmedabad. Mumbai’s patches now host 50+ native species, Delhi has seen up to 20% drops in air pollution, and Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Oxygen Park has cooled urban heat and boosted biodiversity. But even Miyawaki isn’t universal.
The core problem is that we treat plantation as an event, not a process. We plant, we pose, and we move on. But plantation without aftercare is just ceremonial landscaping. Without watering, mulching, weeding, and protection, saplings die. Simple as that. Where local communities are involved, youth groups, resident associations, panchayats survival rates skyrocket. Where people are treated as partners, not spectators, forests flourish. India’s National Biodiversity Strategy now recognizes this, aiming to restore 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030, supported by an ₹81,000 crore fund focused on tackling invasive species, mapping ecosystems, and empowering local stewards.
The Way Forward
The way forward lies in transitioning from symbolic, target-chasing plantation drives to a more nuanced, science-led approach rooted in ecosystem-based restoration and adaptation. This involves rewilding degraded landscapes, allowing native vegetation and wildlife to return naturally with minimal intervention, and prioritizing Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) strategies that align restoration efforts with climate resilience goals. Instead of blanket afforestation, we must promote site-appropriate interventions suited to the local ecology. Monocultures and fast-growing exotics must be phased out in favour of resilient, multi-species ecosystems that enhance biodiversity, sequester carbon, recharge groundwater, and stabilize local climates. Equally critical is long-term maintenance—regular watering, mulching, invasive control, and protection—as well as embedding community participation at every stage, from planning to governance. Restoration success must be measured not in numbers planted, but in functioning ecosystems restored, tracked through biodiversity audits, water quality metrics, and carbon storage assessments. If India truly aims to fight climate change and achieve SDG targets, it must stop planting for optics and start rewilding for outcomes, turning degraded patches into self-sustaining ecosystems that serve both nature and people. Because in the age of climate crisis, we can no longer afford green spectacles—we need green substance.
*Editor, Focus Global Reporter
