Jaipur: Forest Survey of India (FSI) may have found an increase in forest cover in Rajasthan, but there is little to cheer about it. Several plantation schemes during the past 10 years - be it the ‘Harit Rajasthan’ or the drive to plant as many as 25 lakh trees in the state over 61,000hectares of forest land have been just numbers on paper. So is the fate of the 1.3 crore saplings which were distributed to the common man for plantation. The latest 15th forest cover assessment by the FSI reveals all that has increased in Rajasthan is the scrub cover, which grows by itself anyways.
According to the FSI report, a net gain of 466 sq km has been observed in the forest cover of the state compared to 2015. While the report says this can be attributed to plantations, regeneration of fast growing species and conservation efforts, the green cover increase is mainly because of open forests and growth in scrub areas by a significant 4579 sq km.
The report also highlights that in the recorded forest areas (RFA), the green cover shrunk by 103 sq km whereas the same has grown by 569 sq km outside the RFA. If there is an increase in the very dense forest (VDF) area in 2017, then it is only by one sq km.
If the VDF in 2015 was 77 sq km, in 2017 it has increased only by one sq km to 78 sq km. Comparatively, the moderately dense forest in the state having a tree density of 10% and above, which is a minimum mappable unit under the forest cover assessment, also decreased by 74 sq km. But what increased was the open forest by 539 sq km which gave the net gain of 466 sq km.
But on the flip side, the report cannot be taken on its face value as Rajasthan’s forests are not fully digitized. According to officials, only two-thirds of the total forest area has been digitized so far. Besides, what about the forest land diverted for roads, dams and infrastructure development? Adding to that is the Forest Rights Act which too needs to be considered wherein about 40,000 families were given ‘pattas’ for agriculture. It difficult to say if orchards and fields can be counted for an increase green cover, said a source requesting anonymity.
