The state government has proposed a new social forestry policy to be implemented in non-forest areas to increase green cover.

“In Maharashtra, there is 19 to 20 per cent of forest land. The social forestry department has decided to provide green cover to 80 per cent of the non-forest area and will elicit cooperation from local self-government bodies in this endeavour,” officials in the department said. Water Conservation Minister Nitin Raut, who holds the charge of social forestry, has appointed a study group headed by former Chief Secretary Arun Bongirwar to formulate the policy.