Indspire Me

By the Editorial Team

Forest cover in India is one of the most important and critical data parameters in the country. It is inter-related with a lot of phenomena, such as flooding, pollution, climate change, displacement, rehabilitation, wildlife, livelihoods, ecosystems and natural balance. We often hear about the country’s total forest cover, which at present is 21.54 percent, and ideally it should be 33 percent, according to the National Forest Policy. However, let’s also take a look at  Indian states and their forest cover percentages. This will provide us with some perspective, as to state performance and also help us see how increase/decrease in forest cover can impact the futures of these states.

According to the India State of Forest report (2017), released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), a few trends emerge. Please note that these visualizations were created using Tableau, with data from the ISFR reports of the years 2001, 2011 and 2017. If you hover your mouse over the respective state, you will be able to see its forest cover percentage of geographical area. The states with high percentage are shaded dark green, and the colours become lighter and lighter as the percentage decreases. 

Some Trends that Emerge Are as Follows

1. The state with the highest percentage forest cover is Mizoram, and the union territory with the highest percentage forest cover is Lakshadweep.
2. The state with the least percentage forest cover is Haryana, at just 3.59 percent forest cover.
3. The states where the percentage forest cover has decreased the most are concentrated in the Northeast of India, and are namely, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Meghalya.
4. The states where the percentage forest cover has increased the most are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha and Telangana.

How Changes in Forest Cover are Affecting the Futures of Indian States

In the Northeast, the ecosystem and biodiversity is severely affected by deforestation. Rathim Barman from Wildlife Trust of India states that cutting of trees in catchment areas, leads to silts flowing down hills and raising the level of river beds. Wildlife presence and diversity is also being negatively affected due to these changes. Assam’s Dhemaji and Lakhimpur districts have witnessed flooding in 2019, which impacted around 2 lakh individuals.

Historical Changes in the Forest Cover Percentage of Indian States and UTs

In tracking the changes that have taken place in India’s forest cover, for its states and union territories, we’re looking at data from 2001 to 2017, which accounts for 16 years of data and trends analysis. 

• Punjab has been witnessing a sharp decline in forest cover percentage over the past 16 years, which has only been offset by a very marginal increase recently. Indiscriminate felling of trees and half hearted afforestation efforts are one of the reasons. Also, the survival rate of the planted plants is very low. Pollution in Punjab is also not being countered much, due to its dismal forest cover. 
• According to Deccan Herald, the North-east of India, which has traditionally been one of the most natural regions of the country, has surprisingly been losing a lot of forest cover in the last 18 years. Data shared by Global Forest Watch highlights that these losses have increased by 2 times in the past five years alone. India’s greenest region, the north-east has been consistently losing tree cover over the last 18 years. The loss has been doubled in the last five years, according to the data mapped by Global Forest Watch. Increasing temperatures and dry spells in the region, may be some of the negative effects of this phenomenon. Aizwal, the capital of Mizoram witnessed the highest temperatures it has seen in the past 25 years. 
• Afforestation is a boon, and never a bane. Monsoon flooding in Kerala, Karnataka and the Northeast show us the preciousness of human lives and livelihoods, and how important it is for us to take the right action as soon as possible. 

Let us join hands, and try to create more awareness about this critical issue. After all, awareness leads to action.