Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has announced starting an ‘environment budget’ to compensate the damage caused to the environment.

Participating in the National Forest Martyrs’ Day programme on Saturday, he said annual estimations of green areas in Karnataka would be made.

Pointing out that human beings had caused 2,000 years’ worth of damage to the environment in 20 years alone, he acknowledged that the State had 43 lakh hectares of forest and there was a 21.5% shortage. He urged Forest Department officials to work towards conserving forests, reducing man-animal conflicts, and tackling poachers.