New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) As many as 141 projects have been implemented in the northeastern region to regenerate the forest cover and degraded forests, Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh said Monday.

'As on Feb 26, 2010, 141 projects have been approved in the northeastern states since the inception of the National Afforestation Programme (NAP),' Ramesh told the Rajya Sabha.

NAP is a centrally sponsored scheme for regeneration of degraded forests and adjoining areas in the country.

According to Ramesh, under the scheme approval has so far been given for treating 28 lakh hectare project area in the northeastern region, including 5 lakh hectares in Assam.

Arunachal Pradesh with 67,353 square km of forest cover, has the largest cover in the northeast, as per the India State of Forest report 2009.