Researchers claim India is losing its forests more rapidly than Brazil and Malaysia. They question the findings of the latest State of the Forest Report 2011 which highlights that forest cover has increased by nearly five per cent between 1997 and 2007 and is presently covering nearly 24 per cent of India’s geographical area.
Researchers, including Jean-Philippe Puyravaud and Priya Davidar of Pondicherry University and William Lawrence of James Cook University assert that what the Forest Survey of India describe as forests, often consists of tree cover and poplar eucalyptus plantations.
“It is a misnomer to place plantations, which are have increased steadily, in the category of reserve forests,” said a retired forester.
Daily Kaman, inspector-general of forests, admits that from the 24 per cent total forest cover noted in the latest report, “between 28-30 per cent comprises degraded forests”. But NGOS insist that despite the CAMPA budget of `11,000 crores, it can only re-green 0.33 per cent of the country.
When asked to comment on the recent decision by the ministry of environment and forest to accede more reserve forests for development projects, Mr Kumar conceded, “This is inevitable as we have a large population and we cannot stop development activity.”
But researchers seriously question on what basis states like Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have been shown to increase their forest cover. The Andaman Islands decline in forest cover, Mr Kumar attributed to the fall out of the tsunami in 2004.