Youth Club in Assam’s BTR Leads Climate Action Initiative

Rapid Summary

• Youth brigades in Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) are leading efforts to address climate concerns under the green Bodoland Mission launched in June 2024.
• The region lost over 3,000 sq.km of forest cover between 2013 and 2023,as per the India state of Forest Report 2023.
• Members of local youth clubs, Green Brigades, have been tasked with re-greening urban areas and degraded forests; incentives of ₹50,000 per member were provided for plant health management and post-plantation care.
• The mission involves around 6,000 youth members across BTR, supported by schools, women’s collectives, and councils for tree care training.
• So far, communities have nurtured one crore saplings spread across 2,000 hectares featuring native timber species, fruit-bearing trees, medicinal plants, and flowers.
• Urban forests using the Miyawaki method have been established at Kokrajhar Medical College and BTC Secretariat in Kokrajhar headquarters. These forests contain over 12,000 saplings from indigenous species planted on a combined area spanning about 6,000 square meters.
• Key objectives include maintaining biodiversity protection while promoting potential income streams via a “tree economy.”

-The initiative also aims to combat heatwaves while improving human-wildlife intersection (etc.)