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Pune: The 18th Indian State Forest Report (ISFR), released on Saturday, has presented largely encouraging data for Maharashtra, which has now been ranked third in the country in terms of forest and green cover. According to the report, which is published every two years, Maharashtra in 2023 held 8% of India's overall forest and tree cover, or 65,383 sq km of 8,27,357 sq km. Madhya Pradesh leads with 85,724 sq km and Arunachal Pradesh, with 67,083 sq km, has been ranked second in the report.
Maharashtra has also impressed in mangrove forest cover. India's total mangrove cover stands at 4,992 sq km. The state alone now has 315.
09 sq km of mangrove, up from 302 sq km it had in 2021. But there are concerns: The state at 41.07 sq km has recorded a decrease in tree cover outside recorded forest areas, which are areas with reserved or protected forests.
And in Pune, eco-sensitives areas (or ESAs) have seen a decrease of 82.65 sq km of green cover since 2013. The Forest Survey of India (FSI), which releases the ISFR, also carried out an analysis of the Western Ghats and observed that there has been an overall loss of 58.
22 sq km of forest cover in the range's eco-sensitive zones in the last 10 years. Very Dense Forest increased by 3,465.12 sq km, whereas Moderately Dense Forest and Open Forest decreased by 1,043.
23 sq km and 2,480.11 sq km, respectively, the report said. The ISFR relies on interpretation of remote sensing satellite data and field-based National Forest Inventory (NFI).
The report defines forest and tree cover as "all lands, more than one hectare with a tree canopy density of more than or equal to 10% irrespective of ownership, legal status, and land use". The report on Saturday came under fire from noted environmentalists. "It has very little to do with the facts by and large.
I verified the status of the forest cover in detail and can say that the report does not reflect reality, especially when we have satellite-based imagery," said ecologist Madhav Gadgil, who was recently named as one of the six ‘Champions of Earth' by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN's highest environmental honour. Gadgil said: "For years, after verifying the Nilgiris through satellite imagery, it is evident the FSI's report is not factual. Also, the mapping itself is not done on the ground.
" He alleged the FSI as an institution was "formed to manipulate information". "The community forest land is not taken into account. The data itself is unbelievable as presented by the union ministry," he said.
Madhukar Bachulkar, a noted plant taxonomist who has published over 20 research papers on the environment, said the definition of "forest cover" in the report was "very vague". "Dense forest area only accounts for 8% to 10%. How is it possible that this area increased so much within just two years? Maharashtra's tree cover is less; 33% of its total land should actually be covered in forest, but it's only at about 25% now," he said.
Bachulkar said the rate of deforestation in Maharashtra has also been worringly high. "So on what grounds should we even believe this report? The actual on-ground scientific data must be released. There are not enough trees per person in Maharashtra.
As I said, at least 33% of its land should be under green cover for balancing the environment. In the Western Ghats itself, over many years, the percentage of green cover has reduced substantially. The definition of forest also involves scrublands and other less vegetated areas which cannot be counted as forests," he said.
According to Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the positive changes in India's green cover could be attributed to natural growth of vegetation, often due to conservation efforts; establishment of new vegetation through afforestation; improved protection measures in plantation and traditional forest areas; increase in trees growing outside designated forest areas; and regeneration of areas under shifting cultivation. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .
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