LUCKNOW, March 22 -- Chief minister Yogi Adityanath said, during previous governments, only 5.5 crore saplings could be planted, and even that required support from private nurseries. In contrast, last year, 37 crore saplings were planted across the state on a single day. "The forest cover in the state should correspond to its share in the country's population, meaning efforts are needed to raise it to 16 to 17%," he said. "This year, a target of 35 crore has been set, which may increase to 40 to 45 crore," said CM on Saturday during the inauguration ceremony of the National Forestry Dialogue, organised on the occasion of International Day of Forests by the UP forest department. In the last nine years, 242 crore saplings have been planted, and the forest cover has increased to around 10%. "Before 2017, the Gangetic dolphin had almost disappeared. After the Namami Gange project, the species has been revived. The number of dolphins was recorded at 6,327, with 2,397 in Uttar Pradesh alone. We have 11 Ramsar sites and we plan to take it up to 100," he said. Pointing how change in environment reflects upon animal life, the CM said the felling of trees in Nepal has shifted wild animals into Uttar Pradesh and their number went up. On this occasion, the CM released a coffee table book, honoured several individuals, and also visited the exhibition organised by the forest department. He said that Uttar Pradesh is the first state in the country where funds have been distributed to farmers for carbon credits under a carbon finance project. Steps have been taken to promote eco-tourism in Dudhwa National Park, along with improved connectivity. A total of 2,467 forest-based green economy model industries have been established in the state. Talking about wild animals, the CM said that a tiger does not attack suddenly. "My birthplace had a forest just 50 meters away, but tigers never disturbed us, nor did they harm livestock. However, if we interfere with their safety, they will naturally become aggressive," said CM. Sharing statistics CM stated that the forest department budget has been significantly increased. For social forestry, Rs.800 crore has been allocated, Rs.220 crore for nursery, Rs.10 crore for forest modernisation, Rs.50 crore corpus fund for Ranipur Tiger Reserve, Rs.194 crore for clean air management, and Rs.50 crore for a forestry university. Ayodhya is being developed as a solar city, and work is underway to develop 17 other municipal corporations as solar cities. Minister of forests and environment Arun Kumar Saxena, minister of state K P Malik, principal secretary V Hekali Zhimomi, principal chief conservator of forests and head of department Sunil Chaudhary, principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Anuradha Vemuri, and other forest officials were present....