The forest cover in the country has, according to the biennial released by the Forest Survey of India on Monday, but questions abound about whether this increase is more due to a classification exercise.According to the report, the southern states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were among the biggest gainers in terms of forest cover. The increases were attributed primarily to an increase in plantations and conservation efforts. The map below shows the percentage of forest cover in all States.
The findings of the increased forest cover should be read cautiously for three major reasons:Loose definitionThe term 'forest cover', according to the report, includes “all lands more than one hectare in area with a tree canopy of more than 10% irrespective of land use, ownership and legal status”. This means that private plantations of tea, rubber, coffee etc. Are also included in the 'forest' area if they are more than one hectare in size with a tree canopy of over 10%.
Forests cover some 3.9 billion hectares (or 9.6 billion acres) which is approximately 30% of the world's land surface. FAO estimates that around 13 million hectares of forests were converted to other uses or lost through natural causes annually between 2000 and 2010. Their estimated annual rate of forest area increase was 5 million hectares. Forest area of the state is 21664.99 km2 of which 14837.6 km2 area is reserved forest, 2888.85 km2 is protected forest and 4388.98 km2 area is unclassed forest. This Constitutes 11.05% of the geographical area of the stateTable-2. Distribution of the forest area Table-2 is extremely uneven in the state.
(The report clarifies that this is the case). However, the report does not make it explicit what percentage of the forest cover these account for. Hence, this is not 'forest cover' in the traditional sense; the traditional forest that springs to mind when one reads the term are classified as 'forest areas' in the report.Increased scaleWith the increasing accuracy of the equipment used, more areas are being surveyed.
For instance, the 2017 survey incorporates 44 more districts across the country, which means that areas which were not surveyed before have now been included, and the new samples from these new districts also need to be accounted for.Losses can't be offsetThe naturally forest-rich North-East States, which encompass a fourth of the country's total forest area, are among the biggest losers of forest areas. Nagaland and Mizoram lost over 2.5% of their forest area compared to 2015. The report attributes this loss to shifting cultivation patterns, developmental activities and “biotic pressures prevalent in the region”.
A decrease in a naturally forested area should not ideally be offset by an increase in another region; simply adding up the total forest area in the country may result in a net increase, but areas recording losses are where there is a silent call for action.
NEW DELHI: India’s increased by 6,778 sq km over the last two years with Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha and Telangana increasing their green footprint during the period though there is a worrying decline in six northeastern states, including a shrinkage of 630 sq km in the eastern Himalayas.While overall green cover, including tree patches outside recorded forest areas, reported an incremental 1% increase (8,021 sq km) over the last assessment year in 2015, the quality of forests remain a hotly debated subject even as satellite monitoring has increased availability of data. In the past, studies have argued that the problem of depletion and over-exploitation of forests has taken a toll of India’s forests and their sustainability and the problem of simplifying a maze of rules and tune conservation with the needs of local communities remains a challenge.Taking into account the density (canopy covering branches and foliage formed by the crowns of trees), forest cover is divided into ‘very dense’, ‘moderately dense’ and ‘open’ forest.