Talking Point
TreeTake Network
India's total forest and tree cover has increased by 1,445 sq km since 2021, reaching 25.17 percent of the total geographical area in 2023, according to the latest government data.
The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023, released by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav on December 21, 2024, after a delay of almost a year, said that the country's total forest cover increased to 7,15,343 sq km in 2023, reaching 21.76 percent of its geographical area. The tree cover increased by 1,289 sq km and now constituted 3.41 percent of the country's geographical area, it said.
Major Findings
The Forest and Tree cover of the country is 8,27,357 sq km which is 25.17 percent of the geographical area of the country, consisting of 7,15,343 sq km (21.76%) as forest cover and 1,12,014 sq km (3.41%) as tree cover. As compared to the assessment of 2021, there is an increase of 1445 sq km in the forest and tree cover of the country, which includes a 156 sq km increase in the forest cover and a 1289 sq km increase in tree cover. The top four states showing a maximum increase in forest and tree cover are Chhattisgarh (684 sq km) followed by Uttar Pradesh (559 sq km), Odisha (559 sq km) and Rajasthan (394 sq km). The top three states showing the maximum increase in forest cover are Mizoram (242 sq km) followed by Gujarat (180 sq km) and Odisha (152 sq km). Area-wise wise top three states having the largest forest and tree cover are Madhya Pradesh (85,724 sq km) followed by Arunachal Pradesh (67,083 sq km) and Maharashtra (65,383 sq km). Area-wise wise top three states having the largest forest cover are Madhya Pradesh (77,073 sq km) followed by Arunachal Pradesh (65,882 sq km) and Chhattisgarh (55,812 sq km). In terms of the percentage of forest cover with respect to total geographical area, Lakshadweep (91.33 percent) has the highest forest cover followed by Mizoram (85.34 percent) and Andaman & Nicobar Island (81.62 percent).
The present assessment also reveals that 19 states/UTs have more than 33 percent of the geographical area under forest cover. Out of these, eight states/UTs namely Mizoram, Lakshadweep, A & N Island, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Manipur have forest cover above 75 percent. The total mangrove cover is 4,992 sq km in the country. The total growing stock of India’s forest and trees outside forests is estimated as 6430 million cum, of which 4479 million cum is inside the forests and 1951 million cum outside the forest area. There is an increase of 262 million cum of total growing stock as compared to the previous assessment which includes an increase of 91 million cum inside the forest and 171 million cum outside the forest area. The extent of bamboo bearing area for the country has been estimated as 1,54,670sq km. As compared to the last assessment done in 2021 there is an increase of 5,227 sq km in bamboo area. The total annual potential production of timber from trees outside the forest has been estimated as 91.51 million cum. In the present assessment, the total carbon stock in the country’s forest is estimated to be 7,285.5 million tonnes. There is an increase of 81.5 million tonnes in the carbon stock of the country as compared to the last assessment.
Regarding the status of achievement of the target under NDC related to carbon sequestration, the current assessment shows that India’s carbon stock has reached 30.43 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent; which indicates that as compared to the base year of 2005, India has already reached 2.29 billion tonnes of additional carbon sink as against the target of 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes by 2030.
Environmentalists sore
The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) has drawn a lot of criticism from ecologists for its methods, data, and presentation of information. Some experts say that the report is more about showing progress on climate change than reflecting the ecological and social quality of forests. Others are of the view that the data used in the ISFR is not reliable and that the report does not reflect the actual state of forests. However, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) has ruled out any misrepresentation in the report, saying it was not skewed to present a rosy picture.
The ISFR's definition of forest cover includes orchards, bamboo, and palm. As per experts, these are commercial plantations and do not support biodiversity. They say the forest cover grew by just 156 sq km and most of the gain (149 sq km) occurred outside the Recorded Forest Area (RFA), which refers to areas designated as forests in government records. As per experts, the overall result could have been stronger, especially since the government included bamboo and smaller trees (5-10 cm diameter at breast height) in the tree cover estimates for ISFR 2023. The assessment also expanded to 751 districts, up from 636 in 2021.
Kerala’s former principal chief conservator of forests Prakriti Srivastava, conservationist researcher Krithika Sampath, and former National Board for Wildlife member Prerna Singh Bindra dubbed the report as faulty with inflated data. They said it included bamboo plantations, coconut groves, and orchards in forest cover, though such areas did not contribute to biodiversity and wildlife conservation. Critics questioned the ISFR's reliance on satellite imagery to determine forest cover and some said that the ISFR was aimed at presenting positive news.
However, Uttar Pradesh's additional principal chief conservator of forests (social forestry) Deepak Kumar said the report was fine. “Any area of one hectare with a tree canopy of 10% is considered forest even if it is outside the forest. Any area of one hectare or above with 10 to 40% tree canopy is open forest, that with 40 to 70% green canopy is moderately dense forest, and that with above 70% green canopy is very dense forest,” he said, adding that area with less than 10 % green canopy was scrubland. “Bamboo plantations, orchards, and coconut groves all help biodiversity thrive, contrary to what the critics say,” he said.
Environmentalists have also alleged that due to the unavailability of granular data plotted on maps, the rise in forest cover does not corroborate with ground realities. They said the forest cover figures were overstated as they were linked to Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments. NDCs are commitments countries make towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and are linked to earning big money in carbon credits. Minister Yadav stated in his foreword for ISFR 2023: “In the NDC commitments made at the Paris Climate Change Agreement, India has resolved to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 (carbon dioxide) equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.”
Experts also said forest land diverted for infrastructure such as dams, roads, railways, etc. were not deleted from the records, thus inflating the figures. Debadityo Sinha, head of climate and ecosystems team, at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, tweeted on X: “India lost 30,808 sq km of open and scrub forests alongside 14,073 sq km of moderately dense forests and 1,816 sq km of dense forests to non-forest uses.” But retired senior forester Anuj Saxena said: “We cannot call the report faulty by any chance. No department can present false data. How can one say that a forest area shown in the report is not forest under Sec 4 of the Indian Forest Act? Apart from relying on satellite imagery, a lot of physical verification is also done before preparing the report.”
Former chief wildlife warden Mohd Ahsan said there were both ups and downs in the report. “There is a minor increase in both the forest cover and tree cover. There is an increase in total growing stock too, as well as bamboo areas. The quantum of carbon sink has increased. But India has lost old-growth forest and mangrove cover and the Western Ghats have seen a decline in forest cover. According to the latest ISFR, 294.75 sq km of VDF and 3,361.5 sq km of MDF became non-forests during 2021-2023 in India. Together, that is a loss of 3,656 sq km of dense forests in two years. There is a minor increase in both the forest cover and tree cover and an increase in total growing stock too. There is an increase in bamboo areas too. The quantum of carbon sink has increased.”
FSI sticks to its assessment
Despite its methodology to map forest cover in the country drawing criticism from experts, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) stuck to its guns, defending the report. It said that the forest cover was estimated from the field inventory data which corroborated the figures obtained from satellite-based interpretation. The FSI said it was a perception that led to criticism. Sticking to its assessment, the FSI also elaborated on how it did its biennial survey, based on globally accepted standards, backed by an elaborate ground exercise.
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