Increasing the green cover

India needs a well-defined forest conservation policy

The Forest Survey of India’s biennial report on the State of Forests, 2021, does not offer much to applaud, though it shows an expansion of 1,540 sq kms in the forest cover in the past two years, sustaining the uptrend that began over three decades ago. The reported 0.2 per cent increase in the green cover, the lowest in eight years, actually marks a deceleration in growth. Besides, the report’s findings should not be taken at their face value. The bulk of the increase in vegetation has occurred in the “open forests” category where a tree canopy of just above