The recent decision by the state forest department to give more emphasis to forestry programmes on the territory controlled by the department may not augur well for the social forestry project. The concept of social forestry--to do forest-related activites amidst human habitations with community participation--was mainly meant to increase the state's green cover. The Rs 608-cr Japanese aid to the state government for this programme was specifically meant for "bringing about overall ecological improvement of rural and urban areas and to create assets for the population at large to meet their firewood, fodder and fruit requirements".