Forest Cover Down 5,500 Sq Km In 2 Yrs

The country has lost about 5,500 sq km of forest cover over the last two years.

The forest cover has gone down from 638,879 sq km in 1995 to 633,397 sq km in 1997, according to the report titled The State of Forest 1997 released yesterday.

Environment and forests minister Saifuddin Soz, while releasing the report, said he has asked all chief ministers and the heads of union territories to give reasons for this decline and give details of steps they are taking in this regard.

According to the report, maximum losses have been recorded in Andhra Pradesh (3,822 sq km) and Madhya Pradesh (3,969 sq km). The north-eastern states have lost 316 sq km of forest cover compared with 783 km they lost in 1995, when the last assessment was done. However, Maharashtra has shown an increase of 2,300sq km.

 

Soz said the main cause of depletion in forest cover was the population explosion, which results in more pressure on forests. Apart from industrialisation and business activities, he cited Naxalite activities in Andhra Pradesh as another reason.

Soz ruled out major changes in the forest conservation act which restricts use of forest lands for public or private activities, including those concerning developmental work. He said the Centre cannot delegate powers to states to decide on activities that may be allowed on forest land. Only Parliament can grant this power, he said.

However, he said the ministry has decided to bring out an amendment to the act that will enable states to use their discretion for using forest land to set up utilities of public interest, such as those for providing electricity, medical facilities, roads, etc. This would be done as soon as the new Parliament meets.

An analysis of the dynamics of the forest cover reveals dense forests covering an area of 19,456 sq km degraded during 1975-97 to become open forests, while 3,129 sq km turned into non-forest areas.

Under the national forest policy for hills, two-thirds of the geographical area should have a forest cover. But it is found that out of 98 hill districts in the country identified by the Planning Commission, only 19 have the required forest cover. The forest cover in such areas on an average is about 37 per cent.

However, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland have more than the desirable forest cover, that is, more than two-thirds of their respective geographical areas.

The report further disclosed that 66 per cent of the total forest cover in the country lie in 133 tribal districts, where the average forest cover is about 35 per cent of the geographical area.

However, even these tribal districts have registered a loss of forest cover to the tune of about 4,900 sq km compared with the acreage under the previous census in 1995.