Through record-breaking afforestation and strict tribal protections, Honorable Forest Minister Shri Kedar Kashyap has fundamentally transformed Chhattisgarh’s ecological future.

The Chhattisgarh Forest Department just obliterated its national afforestation targets, planting over 70.5 million saplings in two years. And it’s happening because Honorable Forest Minister (HFM) Shri Kedar Kashyap refused to accept the old, broken status quo. He isn’t just managing the state’s timber. He’s actively reclaiming our natural heritage. Through his visionary Bastar 2.0 blueprint, he has anchored the sustainable development of Bastar directly to the economic survival of local tribal communities.

A historic drop in insurgent violence gives our ground teams the operational breathing room they’ve desperately needed. But peace alone doesn’t plant massive forests or defend vulnerable villagers. That requires the kind of decisive, systemic reform Shri Kedar Kashyap brings to the table. For decades, tribal families navigated bureaucratic policies that routinely alienated them from their ancestral lands. He fundamentally shifted that dynamic from the top down. He mandated the absolute defence of Gram Sabha mechanisms. Our department now investigates and completely eradicates forged consent documents from state land acquisitions. Corporate loopholes won’t threaten indigenous tenure under his watch.

The sheer scale of the resulting green expansion proves his strategy works. Guided by his robust execution of the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign, we’ve consistently crushed New Delhi’s targets. We planted over 35 million saplings in 2024 against a 27.5 million mandate. Then his administration broke that record in 2025, driving 35.5 million trees into the ground when the centre only asked for 16.5 million. It’s an unprecedented green surge that locals haven’t seen in a generation.

So, how do we top those numbers this monsoon season? For 2026, Shri Kedar Kashyap has set the bar even higher. We’re rolling out 25.9 million saplings, effortlessly beating our 25 million target. His detailed operational plan includes planting 6.43 million trees across 6,592 hectares using CAMPA funds. We’re also distributing 7.44 million saplings directly to the public for free. And through the Kisan Vriksha Mitra Yojana, our teams will help farmers plant 12.04 million trees across 17,670 acres of private agricultural land. We won’t miss the September deadline to upload this immense progress to the national Meri LiFE portal.

You can’t separate the trees from the water. Shri Kedar Kashyap understands this deep ecological connection better than anyone. He recently celebrated the December 2025 designation of the Kopra Reservoir as Chhattisgarh’s very first international Ramsar site. It’s a massive global win for the state. But he isn’t stopping there. Under the ambitious Anjor Vision 2047, he has directed our department to secure this elite status for 20 state wetlands by 2030. These ecosystems aren’t just scenic bird habitats. They actively regulate the local climate for four million forest-dependent families.

Protecting this rapidly expanding green cover requires modern, uncompromising tools. That’s exactly why Shri Kedar Kashyap launched the Preliminary Offense Report digital network to track forest crimes in real-time. Our officers now enforce strict, zero-tolerance actions against poaching and illegal logging syndicates. We don’t let environmental criminals hide behind paper-based bureaucracy anymore.
None of this matters if the local tribal economy starves in the process. By heavily enforcing Minimum Support Price schemes for Minor Forest Produce, Shri Kedar Kashyap actively shields indigenous collectors from predatory middleman exploitation. He’s also deployed critical CAMPA funds directly into designated plantation zones. He demands a 100% expenditure rate on these grassroots projects, ensuring crucial environmental funding doesn’t simply lapse in government coffers.

He isn’t leaving the forest’s survival to chance.

The rich biodiversity of this heavily contested region won’t just survive as a statistical footnote on a government map. The sustainable development of Bastar under Shri Kedar Kashyap proves unequivocally that strict ecological preservation and fierce tribal empowerment don’t have to exist as opposing forces. He’s actively securing Chhattisgarh’s green future.