Increasing the green cover

India needs a well-defined forest conservation policy

The Forest Survey of India’s biennial report on the State of Forests, 2021, does not offer much to applaud, though it shows an expansion of 1,540 sq kms in the forest cover in the past two years, sustaining the uptrend that began over three decades ago. The reported 0.2 per cent increase in the green cover, the lowest in eight years, actually marks a deceleration in growth. Besides, the report’s findings should not be taken at their face value. The bulk of the increase in vegetation has occurred in the “open forests” category where a tree canopy of just above 10 per cent in over a hectare of land is deemed as forest. Many commercial plantations, such as coconut farms or fruit orchards, tend to be counted as forests. The really worrisome part is the report’s exposé that “moderately dense forests” (tree canopy of 40 to 70 per cent) have shrunk by about 1,582 sq kms, largely in the north-east. These forests harbour rich biodiversity and their loss has grave ecological and geological implications. It exacerbates the vulnerability of the region’s hills to landslides and other natural disasters which are already on the rise due to climate change. Moreover, it goes on to prove that indiscriminate anthropogenic activity, including pernicious shifting cultivation and timber poaching, continues unabated. Though, on the upside, the report indicates a marginal improvement in the presence of dense forests, this has happened largely in reserved forests — sanctuaries and national parks. 
 

Forestry experts attribute the degradation of natural forests largely to the absence of a well-defined forest conservation policy. There are no hard and fast rules for diverting forest land to non-forest uses. Nor are there any specified norms for demarcating no-go areas that cannot be violated. Recent years have witnessed a spate of clearances for commercial and other projects to be taken up in the designated forest areas. Though a process to formulate a new forest policy was initiated in the mid-2000s, the move could not make much headway because of the strong criticism of the policy draft by environment activists and others. The government later announced that it would amend the Forest Conservation Act keeping the public suggestions in view. However, hardly any progress has been seen on that front as well. As a result, several critical issues related to forests continue to be in limbo. 

The absence of a nationally accepted definition of forests can be a case in point. States have their own yardsticks for labelling a piece of land as forest. Besides, if any land parcel is once listed in revenue records as forest, it remains so even if it turns barren. The Supreme Court further confounded the confusion on this count by decreeing in 1996 that the term “forest” should be understood according to its “dictionary meaning”. This is too vague a concept to be applied to an environmentally sensitive and an economically important sector like forests which, additionally, are the mainstay of livelihood for millions. The execution of the scheme for compensatory afforestation by private entrepreneurs using forest land for their projects has also been a victim of policy deficit, resulting in poor private sector participation in expansion and upkeep of the forests. The funds collected for this purpose are underutilised. These matters need urgent attention.