Incremental gains

Growth in area under green cover is encouraging, but the threat of forest degradation must be averted

The key findings of the latest biennial India State of Forest Report (2023) offer reasons for optimism. A quarter of the country's geographical area, spread over 8.27 sq km, is today under forest and tree cover, about 1,445 sq km more than the data from 2021 revealed. However, the fine print suggests these are only incremental gains. The net forest cover has seen only a miniscule 0.5% growth since 2021. Moreover, this transpired largely outside the recorded forest areas or RFAs, which are reserved or protected forests. Of the 156.41 sq km increase in net forest cover, only about 7.28 sq km was found to be inside RFAs. Areas under moderately dense and open forests have shrunk though the area covered by dense forests saw an increase. The northeastern states, known for being rich in biodiversity, continued to suffer a decline in forest cover, with only Mizoram recording an increase. Again, worryingly, as many as eight mountain states, including Uttarakhand, have reported dwindling forest cover.