According to 'State of Forest Report-2005', released by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on February 13, India has lost 728 sq km of forest cover since 2003

India's forest cover stands at a paltry 20.6% of the country's total geographical area, woefully short of the 33.33% it aims to achieve by 2012 under the National Forest Policy, 2002.

According to ‘State of Forest Report-2005', released by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in New Delhi on February 13, 2008, India has lost 728 sq km of forest cover since 2003; the 20.6% forest cover is for 2004-end.

The report is dated 2005 and covers changes in forest cover between 2002 and 2004. Contrary to the trend seen in the last survey, there is a marginal increase in very dense forest cover and a fall of nearly 1,500 sq km in moderately dense forest cover.

Almost all states except Manipur, Orissa and Bihar have either remained stagnant or have lost dense forests during the period 2003 and 2005. More worryingly, 22 sq km of dense forest area in Meghalaya have been turned into moderately dense forest area, says the report.

According to the report, out of 3,287,263 sq km, only 54,569 sq km, or 1.66% of area consists of very dense forest, whereas moderately dense and open forest cover is 332,647 sq km or 10.12% and 289,872 sq km or 8.82%, respectively. Very dense forests have a canopy density of over 70%, while moderately dense forests have 40%-70%, and open forests have less.

Director General of the Forest Survey of India, Devendra Pandey, said: “Most developing countries have witnessed reductions in forest cover due to pressure on the developmental front. Brazil , Indonesia , Sudan , all are facing the problem. At least we have made the forest area stable!”

Conceding that there was only a 0.11% reduction in forest cover since 2002, he blamed the continuing practice of shifting cultivation in the northeast, natural disasters like the December 2002 tsunami that destroyed large tracts of forests in the Andamans, and forest fires for losses in forest cover.

According to the report, Madhya Pradesh remains the largest forested state at 7.6 million hectares, which is 11.22% of the country's forest cover, followed closely by Arunachal Pradesh (10.01%), Chhattisgarh (8.25%), Orissa (7.01%) and Maharashtra (7.01%). But states like Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were witnessing submergence of forest areas due to the construction of large dams.

The northeastern states have a quarter of the country's forests though they constitute less than 7% of India 's geographical area. The country's 188 districts with tribal majorities too have done better, with 36.81% of the areas under forest cover. These districts account for around 60% of India 's forests. Still, tribal areas lost 635 sq km of forests. Nagaland and Manipur saw the maximum loss in forest cover; these hill areas lost 255 sq km mainly due to shifting cultivation.

Pandey expressed concern that the next survey would show a major decline in forest cover in the northeastern states due to the ongoing flowering of bamboo in parts of the region. Bamboo flowers once every 50 years, after which the existing plant dies.

The report points to one major area of concern -- government policy states that the country's 124 hill districts should have at least two-thirds of the area under forest cover. However, only 38.85% of the area in these districts is under forest cover. Even if one excludes areas at an altitude above 4,000 metres -- where trees do not grow -- the percentage goes up only to 52.4%.

Some states have shown a small increase in forest cover. “Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand have shown that plantations and better protection can lead to an increase in forest cover,” said Pandey.

The report shows that apart from forests, another 9.17 million hectares -- 2.8% of India 's total area -- is under tree cover. The total volume of wood in the country is estimated at 6.22 billion cubic metres, of which 4.6 billion cubic metres falls within forests.

Pandey said 0.44 million hectares in India was covered by mangroves, nearly half in the Sunderbans of West Bengal, followed by 21% in Gujarat and 14% in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

This has been the most comprehensive survey so far after ‘wall-to-wall mapping' and patches showing significant changes were sent to the states for validation. Feedback was incorporated before the report's final release.

The first assessment in 1987 was based on a visual interpretation of satellite imagery from a US satellite with a resolution of 80 m. In the current survey, Indian satellites were used, enabling the mapping of patches of even up to one hectare. The assessment is based on satellite imagery of the period October-December 2004 and January 2005.

Source: IANS, February 14, 2008
              The Indian Express , February 14, 2008