Marginal reduction in Delhi’s forest cover, increase in tree cover: Report

The extent of ‘very dense forest’ (land with tree canopy density of 70 per cent and above) has remained the same from 2019, at 6.72 sq km. However, the extent of ‘moderately dense forest’ (land with tree canopy density of 40 per cent and more, but less than 70 per cent) and ‘open forest’ (tree canopy density of 10 per cent and more, but less than 40 per cent) has reduced.

The extent of ‘open forest’ has fallen by 0.62 sq km and that under ‘moderately dense’ forest by 0.18 sq km.

Land more than 1 hectare in area, with a tree canopy and density of more than 10 per cent, “including tree orchards, bamboo, palms etc., occurring within recorded forest and other government lands, private community or institutional lands” is categorised as ‘forest cover’.

Out of the seven major cities the assessment considered – Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai – Delhi is the only city with patches of ‘very dense’ forest cover.

In the assessment carried out in 2011, Delhi had 174.33 sq km under ‘forest cover’. While the total forest cover has increased since then, the area under ‘very dense’ forest has reduced. The extent of ‘very dense’ forest in Delhi was 6.82 sq km in 2011.

Meanwhile, the extent of ‘trees outside forests’ in Delhi is 283 sq km, higher than that in 2019 (265 sq km). There has been an increase in terms of ‘tree cover,’ which refers to isolated trees and small patches of trees, which are less than 1 hectare in area and found outside recorded forest areas. This includes trees along roads, canals, bunds, and scattered trees. The ‘tree cover’ has increased from 129 sq km in 2019 to 147 sq km in 2021.