The Gujarat government has banned the planting of ornamental Conocarpus trees in forest or non-forest areas, citing their adverse impacts on environment and human health.
- Earlier, Telangana too had banned the plant species.
Key points
- Conocarpus, a fast-growing exotic mangrove species, had been a popular choice for increasing the green cover in Gujarat in recent years.
- In the past few years, Delhi and Kerala have tried to control the growth of non-indigenous trees that were harming the local environment and flora and fauna due to their abundance.
- In 2018, the Delhi government agreed to clear the capital’s green lungs, the Central Ridge, of the Vilayati Kikar after years of appeals and court cases by activists.
- The Vilayati Kikar (Prosopis juliflora) is not native to Delhi, and was brought to the city in the 1930s by the British.
- In Kerala’s case too, it was the British who introduced the Eucalyptus tree to Munnar, so its wood could be used as fuel in tea plantation boilers. The state forest department stopped the cultivation of acacia and eucalyptus in forest tracts in 2018.
