Indian Forest

Forest cover plays a crucial role in the maintenance of natural ecology and economy with particular reference to soil, water and environmental conservation. Mass of the population dwell in rural areas where they rely on forest for fulfilling the socio-economical, cultural, religious and medical needs. Thus, it becomes an imperative the state to look after the forest cover situation in India.

Recent Developments

Eastern Ghats Face Loss of Forest Cover, Endemic Plants

  • Researchers from the University of Hyderabad studied historical maps and satellite images from 1920 to 2015 to understand the changes in land use and land cover.
  • The Eastern Ghats spreads across Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, where it has lost around 16% of its forest area over a span of 100 years, as per this study.
  • The forest cover, which was 43.4% of the total geographical area in 1920, has reduced drastically to 27.5% in 2015. Over the years, about 8% of forest area was converted into agricultural fields, while about 4% converted into scrub or grassland.
  • Previous studies have shown that the Eastern Ghats is home to more than 2,600 plant species and this habitat fragmentation and destruction can pose a serious threat to the endemic plants.
  • Habitat reduction mainly occurred in the districts of Gajapati (Odisha), Mahbubnagar (Telangana), and also in Nallamalai and Kolli hill ranges.
  • While agriculture was the main reason for deforestation during the early years, post 1975, mining and other developmental activities such as the construction of dams, roads were the culprits. In 1920, the mining area was only 622 sq.km, and in 2015 it had increased to 962 sq.km.

Strengthening Forest Fire Management in India

  • The report titled, “Strengthening Forest Fire Management in India” was prepared jointly by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the World Bank.
  • The collection of Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) by “forest communities” is one of the reasons for forest fires, according to a report recently released by the Union Environment Ministry.
  • Unwanted forest fires may also occur due to “human negligence”, for example, from casually discarded cigarettes or from poor control of burning on adjacent croplands.
  • “Shifting societal and cultural practices” also play a role, as with the use of fire in traditional shifting cultivation (jhum).
  • As per the report, “Not all fires are bad, though”:The key is to maximize the ecological benefits of fire while minimizing the adverse impacts, recognizing that the controlled use of fire may play a positive role in the management of fire-adapted forests.

Polluting Factories Allowed Near Sundarbans

  • The Department of Environment, “Bangladesh”, has permitted at least 190 industrial plants in the ecologically critical area (ECA) around the Sundarbans, claiming that those factories have taken enough precautions on pollution.
  • Earlier, the government of India had announced a 10-kilometre periphery around the Sundarbans as ECA in 1999 after UNESCO categorised it as a World Natural Heritage site in 1997.
  • Environmentalists all around the world have raised concerns and suggested that the factories will significantly increase the risk to the ecology of the Sundarbans and should be immediately relocated from the ECA.

Wide Occurrence of Forest Fire in Many Indian States

  • In the early quarter of 2018, NASA has released a series of satellite imagery of forest fire affected states in India.
  • In the first 34 days of 2018, Karnataka recorded 60 forest fire alerts every day, according to the Forest Survey of India.
  • An image released by NASA shows that currently, the burning fields or forests are concentrated in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
  • Thus, a team of Indian scientists has proposed a new strategy to tackle forest fires. The strategy involves providing for greater involvement of local communities and use of modern tools of communication technologies such as mobile apps.
  • When a fire anywhere in the world is detected by NASA’s MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) satellites, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) analyses the data by overlaying the digitised boundaries of forest areas to pinpoint the location to the exact forest compartment.
  • The FSI relays news of the fire to the concerned State, so that the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) in charge of the forest where the fire is raging is informed.

Draft National Forest Policy, 2018

  • The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) released the draft National Forest Policy, 2018 in March, 2018.
  • The MoEF& CC has noted that there is a need to revise the existing National Forest Policy, 1988 through integrating: (i) sustainable forest management, (ii) climate change mitigation strategies, and (iii) an evaluation mechanism to oversee participation of multiple stakeholders in forests.

Key Features

  • Eco-Security: The country should aim to have a minimum of one-third of the total land area under forest and tree cover.
  • Forest Plantations: Productivity of forest plantations will be increased through scientific and technological interventions in order to encourage usage of timber.
  • Afforestation Activities through PPP: PPP models will be developed for undertaking afforestation and reforestation activities.
  • Participatory Forest Management: A National Community Forest Management mission will be launched to strengthen participatory forest management.
  • Financial Support: The budget of the forestry sector of the states will be enhanced proportionately to the allocation of central resources devolved, based on the Finance Commission weightage on forest resources of the states.
  • Institutional Framework: A National Board of Forestry headed by the central minister in-charge of forests and State Boards of Forestry headed by state minister in-charge of forests will be established.

Note: Over 100 civil society organizations from 15 states has highlighted the loopholes in the Centre’s draft National Forest Policy 2018 and demanded withdrawal of this draft National Forest Policy, 2018.

Compensatory Afforestation Fund

  • Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) stated that it has collected over Rs. 50,000 crore in a Central compensatory afforestation fund (CAF).
  • This fund is to be used through the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016 or CAF, a purported mechanism to offset forest loss.
  • It is issued before issuing forest clearances to a mine, dam or industry, the Ministry fixes a monetary value for the forest that is to be destroyed and collects this as “compensation”. The funds are to be then used to “afforest” alternative land.
  • The fund’s growth over the past decade is a measure of the forest destruction under way in India. It is also a potent indicator of the scale of resource appropriation from some of India’s most marginalised citizens, namely Tribal communities, living in and around forests.
  • The CAF Act is a deeply flawed piece of legislation because it reduces their displacement, hardship and loss of livelihood and food sources to a monetary value — to be paid to the state.

Why has Compensatory Afforestation Failed?

  • First, Growing Trees is Not a Substitute for Altering Shared Habitats. Urban green spaces, like forests, support a variety of life including birds and animals.
  • Second, discussions in the Supreme Court since the late 1990s and reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General have identified four reasons why CA has not worked, the foremost being the availability of land where plantations can be raised without encumbrances. Further diversion of these CA lands for other uses is a challenge. Audits have also indicated delays in fund disbursements by agencies seeking change in land use, and poor utilisation of funds by the forest department that is tasked with ensuring plantations. They are not mere implementation hassles if they have lasted so long.
  • Third, the afforestation overdrive by government departments is done in floodplains, grasslands and other ecosystems that are often not suitable for tree cover. Thus, resulting in a form of dumping saplings in sites that are empty and where trees are not appropriate.

State Forest Report 2017

  • The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has launched the 15th biennial report titled “Indian State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2017”.
  • This report has revealed that the total forest and tree cover in India has increased of over 8,021 sq.km. which is 1% increase from the previous report of 2015. (This increase in the forest cover has been observed as 6,778 sq.km and that of tree cover as 1,243 sq.km.)
  • The increase in forest cover has been observed in Very Dense Forest (VDF) which absorbs maximum CO2 from the atmosphere. It is followed by increase in forest cover in open forest.

Outcome of ISFR-2017

  • The total forest and tree cover is 24.39% of geographical area of the country
  • 7 States/UTs have more than 75% forest cover: Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur.
  • 8 States/UTs have forest cover between 33% to 75%: Tripura, Goa, Sikkim, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Chhattisgarh and Assam.
  • Top 5 States with maximum increase in forest cover: Andhra Pradesh (2141 sq km), followed by Karnataka (1101 sq km) and Kerala (1043 sq km), Odisha (885 sqkms) and Telangana (565 sqkms).
  • Top 5 States with maximum Forest cover (in terms of area): Madhya Pradesh (77,414 sq km) Arunachal Pradesh (66,964 sq km) and Chhattisgarh (55,547 sq km).
  • Top states with highest Forest cover in terms of percentage geographical area: Lakshadweep with (90.33%), Mizoram (86.27%) and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (81.73%)
  • Top 5 states where forest cover has decreased: Mizoram (531 sq km), Nagaland (450 sq km), Arunachal Pradesh (190 sq km), Tripura (164 sq km) and Meghalaya (116 sq km). These states are in North Eastern region of the country where total forest cover is very high i.e. more than 70% in each state.

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