Context: Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has released the ‘India State of Forest Report 2023’ (ISFR 2023). The report shows a marginal gain of 156 sq. km in forest cover, and a sizable increase of 1,289 sq km in tree cover since 2021.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Key facts about the India State of Forest Report (ISFR).
What is the India State of Forest Report?
- The India State of Forest Report is a biennial report published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), an organisation of the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change.
- FSI monitors India's forest and tree resources through periodic assessments and presents the findings in its biennial report.
- The first State of Forest report was brought out in 1987. The current report, ISFR 2023 is 18th in the series.
Key Terms:
- Tree cover: It is defined as all tree patches of size less than one hectare occurring outside the recorded forest area. This covers trees in all formations, including scattered trees.
- Forest area: It denotes the legal status of the land as per the government records, whereas the term 'forest cover' indicates the presence of trees over any land.
- Forest carbon stock: The amount of carbon that has been sequestered from the atmosphere and is now stored within the forest ecosystem, mainly within living biomass and soil, and to a lesser extent also in dead wood and litter.
- National Forest Inventory: A systematic approach to generate national level estimates on growing stock, forest area and other forest resources parameters by doing regular inventory in selected sample districts in a cycle of two years.
Key Findings of ISFR 2023:
- The Forest and Tree cover of India is 8,27,357 sq km which is 25.17% of the geographical area of the country, consisting of:
- 7,15,343 sq km (21.76%) as forest cover.
- 1,12,014 sq km (3.41%) as tree cover.
For the first time, India’s green cover has exceeded the 25% threshold. Of this, 49.57% (4,10,175 sq km) is classified as dense forests.
- Increase in tree cover and forest cover:
- Sharpest growth ( 0.5%) in tree cover (from 2.91% in 2021 to 3.41% in 2023)
- Marginal growth in forest cover (0.05%) since 2021.
- Between 2003 and 2013, forest cover increased by 0.61%, from 20.62% to 21.23%.
- In the next 10 years, it grew by only 0.53% to 21.76%.
- Total mangrove cover is 4,992 sq km in the country.
- Total bamboo bearing area is 1,54,670 sq km. (an increase from 2021).
- Total carbon stock in the country's forest is estimated to be 7,285.5 million tonnes (an increase of 81.5 million tonnes as compared to 2021).
- 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.
Rankings of States & UTs:
- Top four states showing maximum increase in forest and tree cover: Chhattisgarh (684 sq km) > Uttar Pradesh (559 sq km) > Odisha > Rajasthan.
- Top three states showing maximum increase in forest cover: Mizoram (242 sq km) > Gujarat > Odisha.
- Area wise top three states having largest forest and tree cover: Madhya Pradesh (85,724 sq km) > Arunachal Pradesh > Maharashtra.
- Area wise top three states having largest forest cover: Madhya Pradesh (77,073 sq km) > Arunachal Pradesh > Chhattisgarh.
- In terms of percentage forest cover with respect to total geographical area: Lakshadweep (91.3 %) > Mizoram (85.3 %) > Andaman & Nicobar Island.
- 19 states/UTs have above 33% of the geographical area under forest cover.
- According to the National Forest Policy of 1988, 33% of India’s geographical area is required to be forests.
- 8 states/UTs: Mizoram, Lakshadweep, A & N Island, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Manipur have forest cover above 75%.
Types of Forests:
- Forests: Irrespective of land use or ownership, tree patches measuring 1 hectare or more with a minimum canopy cover of 10% are counted as forests in India.
- Dense forests: Areas with a canopy density of 40% and above are considered dense forests
- Open forests: Areas with canopy density of 10-40% are open forests (OF).
- Very dense forests: Since 2003, areas with at least 70% canopy density have been classified as very dense forests (VDF).
**Canopy density: It is the percentage of an area that is covered by the crowns of trees. It's also known as forest canopy density (FCD) or crown cover. Canopy density is a key indicator of a forest's health and is used to assess the forest's condition and potential management actions.
Concerning findings of the Report:
- ISFR-2023 shows that 3,913 sq km of dense forests (an area larger than Goa) have disappeared in India in just two years since 2021.
- India has witnessed the complete destruction of 24,651 sq km (more than 6.3%) of its dense forests in the two decades since 2003.
- The bulk of this loss has been offset by the rapid transformation of 15,530 sq km of non-forested or scantly forested land to dense or even very dense forests (during 2003-2023).
- However, this offset has been accomplished through Plantations, because natural forests do not grow this fast.
Conundrum of Dense forests:
- Areas under plantations-as-dense-forests are expanding as the disappearance of natural dense forests becomes routine.
- Large swaths of Open forest (OFs) become Moderately dense forest (MDFs) in the last decade owing to better management. At the same time, plantations are supplementing these natural gains to keep the extent of India’s dense forest cover stable.
- Though, India’s dense forest cover has grown by 6% during 2003-2023. Experts question such an increase as they were brought through a series of unexplained revisions of data presented in ISFR adding a total of 20,232 sq km of dense forest to the inventory.
Plantations as Natural Forest – Issues and Implications:
- Plantations usually have trees of the same age (and often the same species), are vulnerable to fire, pests and epidemics.
- Plantations often act as a barrier to the regeneration of natural forests which are more biodiverse, perform a wider range of ecological functions, and support numerous species.
- Old natural forests stock a lot more carbon in their frame and in the soil. In 2018, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) flagged India’s assumption that plantations reach the carbon stock level of existing forests in just eight years.
- Plantations are frequently promoted for their rapid growth which can achieve carbon targets faster. However, plantations are often harvested more readily, defeating climate goals in the long term.