Forest covers data

In view to conserve India’s forest cover, the agencies are trying to record detailed data for forests.

The data collection:

• India is one of the few countries to have a scientific system of periodic forest cover assessment that provides “valuable inputs for planning, policy formulation and evidence-based decision-making”.

• Since 19.53% in the early 1980s, India’s forest cover has increased to 21.71% in 2021.
• Adding to this a notional 2.91% tree cover estimated in 2021, the country’s total green cover now stands at 24.62%, on paper

Types of Forests in India:

The Forest Survey of India (FSI) classifies forest cover into 4 classes:

• Very Dense Forest: All lands with tree cover (including mangrove cover) of canopy density of 70% and above.
• Moderately dense forest: All lands with tree cover (including mangrove cover) of canopy density between 40% and 70%.
• Open forests: All lands with tree cover (including mangrove cover) of canopy density between 10% and 40%.
• Scrubs: All forest lands with poor tree growth mainly of small or stunted trees having a canopy density of less than 10%.

Indian Forest Act of 1878 classifies Forests into Reserved, Protected, and Village Forests:

• Reserved forests:
  • They constitute more than half of the total forest area of India.
  • It has a certain degree of protection.
  • They are protected by the respective state governments unlike wildlife sanctuaries and national parks which are supervised by the Government of India.
  • Rights to activities like collecting timber or grazing cattle or hunting and public entry are banned in these forests.
• Protected forests: They are of two types- Demarcated and undemarcated.
  • They have a limited amount of protection.
  • These are looked after by the government but certain activities like hunting, grazing, or timber collecting are allowed to people who live on the boundaries of forests and are partially or wholly dependent on the forest resources for livelihood, provided they don’t cause severe damage to the forests.
• Village forests:
  • They are protected and managed by village communities which are assigned by the state governments.
  • The local communities may use it for timber or other forest produce, pasture, recreation, plantation, and so on under prescribed conditions by state governments.

Key highlights of the survey:

• In India, regardless of land use or ownership, any areas of one hectare or more with a minimum 10% tree canopy density are considered to have forest cover.
  • This disregards the standard set by the United Nations, which excludes forest areas that are primarily used for agriculture and habitation.
• Registered Forest Area is the term used to denote an area that has been declared as forest in India's revenue records or under forest law. Recorded Forest Areas, which are divided into Reserved, Protected, and Unclassified woods, make up 23.58% of India.
• Since 19.53% in the early 1980s, India’s forest cover has increased to 71% in 2021. Adding to this a notional 2.91% tree cover estimated in 2021, the country’s total green cover now stands at 24.62%, on paper.
• Even after the forest department has planted a lot since the 1990s, the total area of dense forests in Registered Forest Areas in 2021 was only 9.96% of India.

Technology used:

• Satellite images are used for mapping forests in India.
• LiDAR-based forest survey:
• It is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges & variable distances.
• LiDAR follows a simple principle — throw laser light at an object on the earth's surface and calculate the time it takes to return to the LiDAR source.
• Applications: Lidar is commonly used to make high-resolution maps, with applications in surveying, geodesy, geomatics, archaeology, geography, geology, geomorphology, seismology, forestry, atmospheric physics, laser guidance, airborne laser swath mapping (ALSM), laser altimetry.