Beating the Rhetoric
The 1990’s heralded a new era in human history. Technological advancement especially software industry was one of them. Among the many other terms that mankind began acquainting itself with another term that began to dominate discourses was environmental protection. Since the advent of Industrial Revolution, nations around the world have raced to advance themselves and their economy with scant regard for the natural environment. This led to rapid destruction of the natural environment until the 1990’s when leaders across the world began to recognise environmental destruction and climate change as potential problems. Since then in the last twenty years the discourse has shifted to newer ways of promoting development with terms like sustainable development being the key. Nations have also focussed on strengthening environmental regulations and establishing new targets like arresting the loss of natural forest cover and reversing the trend.
India too has not been lagging in its efforts to conserve the environment. Since the 1990s the Ministry of Environment has become a pivotal Ministry which is consulted when policies are framed. India has embarked on successful conservation models including successful ones like the Rhino Conservation Project of Kaziranga National Park. Further projects like Project Tiger and Project Snow Leopard have given a strong impetus to conservation efforts. Another aspect on which India has worked diligently is increasing forest cover. As population of the country continues to boom, and land comes under further pressure it is natural that forest land and natural habitats will feel pressure of land. Land is needed for housing, for hospitals for factories and schools. It is a resource which is limited in nature. Despite such constraints India has continued to work successfully towards increasing forest cover every year.
The Indian State of Forest Report released every two years gives an idea of the environmental health of the country. The latest status report on forest cover in the country speaks volumes about India’s conservation efforts. In its latest report it has been observed that India’s forest and tree cover has risen by 8,021 sq. km, up 1% since 2015, to 802,088 sq. Km. This is about 24.39% of the total geographical area of the country. The target that was set in the early 2000s was that India should have at least 33% of its total GA (geographical area) under forest cover and it looks well on course to achieving that target. According to the report the total forest cover of the country stands at 708,273 sq.km (about 21.54% of India’s total GA) while tree cover stands at 93,815 sq.km (about 2.85% of the total GA).
The composition of the increase of 8021 sq km in forest and tree cover is this: while forest cover grew by 6778 sq km during the same time tree cover grew by 1243 sq km. The increase in mangrove cover stands at 181 sq km thus taking the total mangrove area in the country to 4921 sq kms. The composition of dense forest, moderately dense forest and open forest according to the latest report stands at 98,158 sq. km (2.98% of GA), 308,318 sq. km (9.38% of GA) and 301,797 sq. km (9.18% of GA) respectively. In the hill areas the forest cover grew by more than 700 sq kms of total GA whil in the areas with predominantly tribal population it grew by almost 89 sq kms.
Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh in terms of area. However in a worrisome trend among the top five states only Orissa has not decreased its total forest cover in the preceding two years. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala are the three states where forest cover grew the most while the decrease was most in the three northeastern states of Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. In fact overall the Northeast lost some 690 sq kms of forest cover in the past two years which is a dangerous trend that needs to be reversed.
The report also revealed that the total area of the water bodies had increased too in the past decade between 2005-2015. This would mean that perhaps a lot of traditional water bodies and wetlands had been freed from encroachments. India has made remarkable progress in protection of its forestland. It stands 8th in terms of total area under forest cover despite having such a high population both in terms of numbers as well as in terms of population density. This report is also significant because for the first time in a number of years the total area of very dense forest has also increased. Indeed the latest reports are encouraging and speaks volumes of India’s conservation efforts. However for sustained gains and sustainable development India must continue this line of thought and action in the future.
(Views expressed by the author are personal)