The Government of India has taken several significant steps to conserve forests, recognizing their vital importance to the survival and prosperity of humankind.

The Government proposed a nation-wide forest conservation policy and adopted a forest policy in 1952, which was further modified in 1988. According to the new forest policy, the Government emphasizes sustainable forest management to conserve and expand forest reserves on one hand, and to meet the needs of local people on the other.

Social Forestry was initiated as a key step, which means the management and protection of forests and afforestation on barren lands with the purpose of helping in environmental, social, and rural development.

The forest policy aimed at bringing 33 per cent of the geographical areas under forest cover and maintaining environmental stability. It focuses on restoring forests where ecological balance was disturbed, conserving the natural heritage of the country, its biological diversity, and genetic pool. The policy also aims to check soil erosion, extension of desert lands, and reduce floods and droughts.

Additionally, the policy emphasizes increasing forest cover through social forestry and afforestation on degraded land. It aims to increase productivity of forests to make timber, fuel, fodder, and food available to rural population dependent on forests. Finally, the policy envisages creating a massive people's movement involving women to encourage planting of trees, stop felling of trees, and reduce pressure on existing forests.