Forest cover up by 100 sq-km in the Indian state of Punjab

New Delhi, February 7
'Grain Bowl of India', Punjab recorded a 100-sq km increase in the forest cover, leading the 15 states which collectively registered aggregate increase of 500 sq-km in the country that otherwise showed a decline of 367 sq km since the last survey in 2009, says the India State of Forest Report, 2011.

As per the biennial assessment report released today, the forest and tree cover in the country stands at 78.29 million hectares, 23.81 per cent of the geographical area. This includes 2.54 per cent very dense forest, 9.76 per cent moderately dense forest and 8.75 open forest. The tree cover in the country is 2.76 per cent.

While 15 states registered increase of 500 sq-km in forest cover, 12 states and Union Territories, mainly from the northeast, showed a decline of 867 sq km.

The survey, flaunted by the government as the most authoritative assessment of the country's forest cover, however, does not make any effort to differentiate natural forest from plantations in the open forest category. The figures also indicate that the country will not be able to achieve its self-set goal of 33 per cent forest cover by 2012.

The Ministry of Environment and Forest officials admit that if "we are able to complete Green India Mission successfully in next 10 years, India may be able to bring 29 per cent area under green cover".

Meanwhile, apart from Punjab, gainers in the list also include Haryana (14 sq-km), Himachal (11 sq-km), Jammu and Kashmir (two sq-km), Jharkhand (83 sq-km), Rajasthan (51 sq-km), Orissa (48 sq-km), Tamil Nadu (74 sq-km) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (62 sq-km).

The nature of the green cover in agrarian states Punjab and Haryana though has the potential to worry environmentalists. A majority of the 100 sq-km increase in Punjab is due to enhanced agro-forestry and plantations like poplar and eucalyptus-monoculture cash crops-highly cyclic and discredited by environmentalists for impoverishing soil and causing erosion in the long run.

Environment Secretary T. Chatterjee says Punjab's 100 sq-km increase is due to enhanced plantation activities undertaken in the recent past by the state Forest Department and spurt in agro-forestry practices.

Appreciative of the state government's efforts, he says that agro-forestry practices have great economic potential and since plantations are outside the forest area and largely on degraded land, they do not harm the biodiversity or top soil in any way".