Comprehensive assessment of the forest resource involves measurement
of numerous parameters such as forest cover, growing stock, annual
increment, species composition, bio-diversity and non-timber forest
products. However, in the absence of adequate resource, the Forest
Survey of India is able to assess only the forest cover biennially,
at the national level, using remote sensing technology. The assessment
of other parameters is done for the specific areas.
The first report on the forest cover of the country was published
in 1987 using Landsat data of US satellite through visual interpretation
technique on 1:1 million scale. The resolution of the sensor was
80 m x 80 m. From the second assessment, the resolution of the
sensor improved to 30 m x 30 m and scale of interpretation to 1:250,000.
The Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite data has been used since
fifth assessment having 36-meter resolution with simultaneous
introduction of digital image processing limited to forest covers
of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
In the present assessment, further refinement has been brought in
the methodology. Digital method of interpretation has been extended
to 13 states comprising 7 states of North-East, Sikkim, Himachal
Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi in addition to earlier two states.
This method could not be applied to the entire country due to
inadequate infrastructure. The eleven states where digital interpretation
has been done for the first time, IRS 1C/1D data having resolution 23.5 m
and period Oct.-Dec. 1998 have been used. The data of other states
are of IRS 1B with resolution 36 m and period 1996-97. The introduction
of advance digital image processing systems has helped in reducing the
time lag between the presentation of the report and that of satellite data.
The forest cover of the country, as per the present assessment, is 63.73
million ha constituting 19.39% of the geographic area of the country
out of which 37.74 million ha (11.48%) is dense forest, 25.50 million ha
(7.76%) open forest and 0.49 million ha (0.15%) mangroves. Madhya
Pradesh accounts for the largest forest cover of the country i.e. 20.68%
followed by Arunachal Pradesh (10.80%), Orissa (7.38%), Maharashtra
(7.32%) and Andhra Pradesh (6.94%). The seven North-Eastern states together
comprise 25.70% of the total forest cover.
A comparison of the forest cover of the country between the present (1999)
and the preceding assessments (1997) shows a net increase in the forest
cover by 3,896 sq.km. The dense forest has increased by 10,098 sq.km,
mainly due to improvement in the open forest. The area of mangroves has
increased by 44 sq.km. It is to be noted that period during which the change
in the forest cover has occurred is not uniform in all the states but varies
between 2-5 years, because satellite data used in the interpretation are of
different dates. The average difference at the national level is about 3 years.
In Andhra Pradesh, net increase of 939 sq.km. in forest cover has occurred in
5 years (1993-98), whereas in Mizoram, loss of 437 sq.km has occurred in 4
years (1994-98). Other states where gains have been recorded are; Arunachal
Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan Tripura, U.P., West Bengal and Delhi.
The states where forest cover has declined are Assam, Bihar, Goa, Mizoram,
Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
and Dadar Nagar Haveli.
The reasons for gains and losses as observed by the field parties of
the FSI during ground truthing are varied and many. The main reasons
for gains are inclusion of established large block plantations in
the forest cover, improvement in the density of forest due to Joint Forest
Management and natural regeneration of mangroves. The main reasons for
losses are shifting cultivation, encroachment and tree fellings. It
is also to be noted that in case of eleven states where the method of
interpretation has been changed from visual to digital, the present assessment
is not comparable to the preceding one due to change in the scale of
interpretation. The area of forest cover in such cases has been suitably
transformed from 1:50,00 to 1:250,000 scale.
Due to technological limitations of the remote sensing and paucity
of resources, separate assessment of the forest plantations is not done
by the Forest Survey of India. The present report has, however, analysed
the data on plantations obtained from National Afforestation and Eco-development
Board, Ministry of Environment and forests, State Forest departments
and other collateral sources. It has been found that cumulative area of
forest plantations done until 1999 is 31.2 million ha, 10.2 million ha
of which have been achieved through distribution of seedlings. The actual
area of existing plantations and details about species composition, location,
ownership, age class is uncertain. Considering the survival rate and harvest
of some fast growing plantations, it is estimated that hardly 50% of the
cumulative area of plantations exists.
Forest areas in the proximity of population centre/villages have been reported
to be degrading faster due to collection of fuel wood, cattle grazing etc.
Using the data available from the Registrar General of India a provisional
number of the villages having forest land use has been estimated. It has been
found that there are about 170,000 inhabited villages in the country with a
total population of 147 million located in the proximity of the forest areas.
The latest compilation on protected area for in-situ conservation shows that
there are 87 national parks and 484 wildlife sanctuaries with total areas of
4.06 million ha and 11.54 million ha respectively. These together constitute
15.6 million ha and form 4.74% of the geographic area of the country. In addition,
11 biosphere reserve have also been created with the geographical area of 4.3
million ha whose areas partly overlapped protected areas.
To implement the Joint Forest Management (JFM) programmes, 22 state
governments have issued notifications. The nature of usufruct sharing varies
from state to state. Until 1st February, 2000 about 36,130 forest protection
committees have been constituted which are managing a total of 10.25 million ha
of forest area, of which more than 50% falls in Madhya Pradesh. The analysis of
the impact of JFM on the development of forest resource and economic status of
the local people involved, is yet to be done.
A special study on the practice of shifting cultivation in the North Eastern states
shows that cumulative area brought under shifting cultivation during 1987-95 years
was 1.73 million ha. Similarly, a study on mining in forest areas shows that of the
total 90,695 ha under metal mining leases in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa
and Bihar, about 60% area is under forest cover, most of which are
dense.