Capt Amarinder, reviewing the functioning of Forests and Wildlife Preservation Department through video conferencing, emphasized the need to undertake massive plantation of traditional trees including ber, kikar, saal, shisham etc besides katha amb an indigenous variety of Mango commonly prevalent in Kandi region and southern Punjab, which have eventually dwindled due to passage of time as revival of its plantation would obviously offer a natural habitat to old species of wild animals and birds which have now gradually extinct over a period of time.
The Chief Minister also complimented the Department for undergoing plantation of Chandan and high yielding Bamboo (Bamabusa Balcooa), which gives double the yield of traditional bamboo. He asked the Additional Chief Secretary (Forests) Anirudh Tiwari to encourage plantation of more indigenous species and motivate the farmers for plantation of Poplar, which is not only water efficient but also quite remunerative due to its huge demand in the wood .
The Department has also been asked to fully explore the potential of ecotourism and concerted efforts should be made to develop Siswan and Harike as preferred ecotourism destinations in northern India.