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The Tamil Nadu government has drawn up grand plans to restore a whopping 1.26 lakh hectares of degraded forest in a phased manner starting this year. The project would be the cornerstone of the state’s climate resilience strategy. As per official information, the state has 5.65 lakh hectares of degraded forest, of which close to 2 lakh hectares is in the Western Ghats. This is significantly hampering the ability of the forests to act as a carbon sink and mitigate the impact of climate change in the state. To counter this, Tamil Nadu government, with financial assistance from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), has launched the Restoration of Degraded Forests Landscape Project, under which 34,605 hectares have been identified for restoration under Phase-1 at the cost of Rs 481 crore over five years.