(This story originally appeared in on Aug 05, 2015)

NEW DELHI: As part of its effort to increase and protect green cover in urban areas, the Centre has proposed to develop 200 'city forests' in the country in the next five years and launch a 'school nursery' scheme to create awareness about environment protection.The idea is to develop at least one 'city forest' initially on forest land, ranging from 20 hectare to 100 hectare, in cities having municipal corporations."The environment ministry will provide one time financial support for development of these city forests", said Union environment and forests minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday.Responding to a Parliament Question, the minister in his written response informed the Lok Sabha that the scheme, namely "Nagar Van-Udyan Yojana", was proposed to be launched on pilot basis."The scheme aims to create 200 city forests in the country in the next five years", he said.Referring to the 'school nursery' scheme, he said, "It is proposed to create small nurseries in schools involving students from class six to class nine. The main objective is to create awareness about environment and help students identify and learn about the various benefits of trees and plants".Under this scheme, 1,000 schools of the country will be selected every year and each will raise at least 1,000 saplings by involving students. Selected schools will receive grant of Rs 25,000 in the first year and Rs 10,000 per year for the subsequent two years.The saplings, raised by the students, will be planted in areas, earmarked for this purpose in consultation with local civic bodies or panchayats.