NEW DELHI: India’s forest cover increased by merely 2.5% between 2010-11 and 2021-22 but the ‘very dense forest’ component of it grew by 22.7% during the period, indicating effective regeneration and conservation efforts, claimed the central govt’s first ever dedicated publication on forest accounting. It recorded a decline only in the ‘moderately dense forest’ category.Released on Thursday, the physical asset accounting showed that forest cover (very dense, moderately dense and open forest) increased from 6,97,898 sq km in 2010-11 to 7,15,342 in 2021-22, adding 17,444 sq km (2.5%) in 10 years.During the same 10-year period, ‘very dense forest’ (VDF) increased by 19,000 sq km (from 83,502 sq km in 2010-11 to 1,02,502 sq km in 2021-22) whereas ‘moderately dense forest’ (MDF) decreased by 11,071 sq km (from 3,18,745 sq km to 3,07,673 sq km). The increase was also reported in the ‘open forest’ category from 2,95,651 sq km to 3,05,167 sq km (9,516 sq km increase). All lands with tree canopy density of 70% and above come under VDF whereas lands with tree canopy density of 40% and more but less than 70% are categorised as MDF. Similarly, all lands with tree canopy density of 10% and more but less than 40% come under the ‘open forest’ category.State-wise data shows the highest increase of 4,137 sq km in Kerala followed by 3,122 sq km in Karnataka and 2,606 sq km in Tamil Nadu in the VDF category. The forest accounting was done by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation adopting the UN System of Environmental Economic Accounts (SEEA) Framework which is an agreed international framework for the compilation of the environment economic accounts from 2018.“Their application ensures consistency, comparability, and alignment with global statistical standards,” said the ministry, which utilised data from trusted national sources including the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) and the Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (NCAVES) for forest accounting.Besides accounting the forest physical asset, it also analysed the ‘forest condition’ showing the status of growing stock, carbon stock, economic value and status of regeneration.The publication claimed that the condition of India’s forests has improved in terms of biomass and carbon storage, with reduced severe degradation indicating better forest health. It, however, underlined that the “declining regeneration and rising fire risks” highlight vulnerabilities in forest conditions that need urgent attention.
