The State of Uttaranchal has embarked on a process of preparing its first ever assessment to prepare a State of Environment Report. Under the ongoing national programme, the State Government recognized that this national process has a huge scope for generating positive transitions in the status of conservation and sustainable development in the fledgling State. To this purpose the Government of Uttaranchal nominated the Uttaranchal Environmental Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB) as the state host institution to undertake this effort from the Tenth Plan Period. The board has taken the services of IDFC (Infrastructure Development and Finance Company Ltd.), which has been a part of several initiatives in the State. IDFC have anchored the process with Academy for Mountain Environics (AME) as the local institution.

Uttaranchal became a separate state carved out of hill districts and sub Himalayan regions of Uttar Pradesh in the year 2000 and is the newly formed hill state in the Indian Himalayan Region. The formation of the new state is the outcome of people’s initiative with a vision to evolve a hill oriented development process for the people of the state. The geographical location (latitudes 290 5’ – 310 25’ N and longitudes 770 45’ – 810 E) resource setting of Uttaranchal is unique and shares its borders with China and Nepal and hence also becomes strategic. The population of Uttaranchal is spread across 13 Districts and 95 blocks and is estimated at 8,479,562 persons in 2001.Read Report