environment current affairs 2017 in hindi for 2018 upsc ias uppsc uppcs bpsc jpsc appsc tnpsc tpsc ias pcs ssc and other competitive exams
FULL SUMMARY OF IFSR INDIAN STATE OF FOREST REPORT 2017 SUMMARY -forest survey of india report 2017 - MANGROVES in india statewise , water bodies in india total forest cover and tree cover change with refrernce to 2015 report
India’s forest cover increases by 1%, but NE a cause for concern
The 2017 assessment report reveals that 15 states/UT’s have above 33% of the geographical area under forest cover.
The report shows that the forest cover in five north-eastern states - Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Meghalaya - has, however, decreased in 2017 as compared to 2015.
The previous assessment of 2015 covered 589 districts of the country, while the new assessment covers 633 districts.
India’s forest cover increased by 6,778 sq km over the last two years with Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha and Telangana increasing their green footprint during the period though there is a worrying decline in six northeastern states, including a shrinkage of 630 sq km in the eastern Himalayas.
While overall green cover, including tree patches outside recorded forest areas, reported an incremental 1% increase (8,021 sq km) over the last assessment year in 2015, the quality of forests remain a hotly debated subject even as satellite monitoring has increased availability of data.
The increase, based on satellite data and subsequent ‘ground truthing’, has put the total forest cover at 7,08,273 sq km which is 21.54% of the country’s geographical area.
Releasing the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2017 on Monday, the environment ministry looked at the overall green cover (total forest and tree cover) of 8,02,088 sq km and pitched it as a success of multiple afforestation programmes.
Though this figure puts green cover at 24.39% of India’s geographical area, this does not reflect a complete picture as it includes tree cover of 93,815 sq km, primarily computed by notional numbers.
In the past, studies have argued that the problem of depletion and over-exploitation of forests has taken a toll of India’s forests and their sustainability and the problem of simplifying a maze of rules and tune conservation with the needs of local communities remains a challenge.
Taking into account the density (canopy covering branches and foliage formed by the crowns of trees), forest cover is divided into ‘very dense’, ‘moderately dense’ and ‘open’ forest. The ‘very dense’ forest cover has increased over the last assessment of 2015, but the ‘moderately dense’ category reported a decline — a sign which environmentalists consider quite worrying.
Referring to decline in the ‘moderately dense’ forest category and enhancement of forest cover in ‘open’ forest and ‘scrub’ categories, forest expert from Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Ajay Saxena said, “This negative correlation means that India is losing good forests for developmental pressures, forest degradation and climate change.”
Saxena termed the increase in ‘very dense’ forest (VDF) cover as a “positive development”, but said a major part could be attributed to increase in the number of districts assessed in the new report compared to 2015.
The ISFR updated the number of districts for its assessment from 589 to 633. The ministry, however, claimed that the change in area was calculated “using updated figures” to facilitate comparison on a common methodological platform.
Underlining that very dense forest had increased from 85,904 sq km in 2015 to 98,158 sq km, environment and forests minister Harsh Vardhan said, “This is very heartening as VDF absorbs maximum carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”
He said consistent increase in forest cover over the years was in sync with India’s commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change and the country would meet its target of creating additional carbon sink (2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent) through increase in forest and tree cover by 2030.
The report showed that forest cover in six north-eastern states — Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya and Sikkim — decreased in 2017. Experts believe forests in the eastern Himalayas are rich in forest carbon and decline in forest cover in the region could have been avoided. This area reported a net loss of 630 sq km of pristine forests.
The ISFR 2017 shows that about 40% of the country’s forest cover is present in nine large contiguous patches of the size of 10,000 sq km or more. It also shows the total mangrove cover stands at 4,921 sq km and has shown an increase of 181 sq km. All the 12 mangrove states have shown a positive change in the mangrove cover, as compared to the last assessment. Mangrove ecosystem is rich in biodiversity and provides a number of ecological services.
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