Context:
The State of Forest Report 2023 says India is holding 25 percent of its land under forest cover or trees, a starkly healthy figure.
Key Highlights:
- There are the flaws in implementation of the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 and the Forest (Rights) Act 2006.
- Issues
- It muddled the definitions of forests and, excludes community forests, than including plantations and orchards as well.
- The 25% figure really hides loss in areas recognized for biodiversity, or even the shrinkage of mangrove and ‘moderately dense’ forests.
Drawbacks of Report:
- The report is silent on the carbon sequestration potential of degraded land and the uses to which they are at present put.
- The government has weakened environmental safeguards and distorted its official inventory of forests.
About: Forest Survey of India (FSI)
