UPSC Mains 2020 GS Paper 1 Q17: model answer

The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021 put forest and tree cover at about 24.6% of India's area, with forest cover alone around 21.7%, below the National Forest Policy's goal of 33%.

Status

• Distribution: largest areas in Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra; the North-East has the highest share of land under forest.
• Trends: total cover has risen slightly, mainly from open forests, plantations and tree cover outside forests on farms.
• Losses: decline in the North-East due to shifting cultivation and development.
• Mangroves: about 4,992 sq km, with the Sundarbans as the largest.

Quality concerns

• Very dense forest is only about 3% of India's area.
• Fragmentation by roads, mines and dams; invasive species like Lantana.
• Forest fires increasingly frequent, especially in Uttarakhand and central India.
• Grazing and fuelwood pressure from forest-dependent communities.

Impact on climate change

• Carbon sink: forest carbon stock about 7,200 million tonnes; India's NDC aims for an additional 2.5–3 billion tonnes of CO₂ sink by 2030.
• Local climate: forests regulate rainfall, temperature and humidity; deforestation weakens moisture recycling and raises local temperatures.
• Soil carbon in forest floors is often larger than the carbon in trees, and is lost when land is cleared.
• Adaptation: forests protect watersheds, recharge springs, coasts (mangroves against cyclones) and biodiversity.
• Degradation turns sinks into sources: fires and clearing release carbon.

Policies

• Green India Mission, CAMPA funds, Nagar Van Yojana, REDD+, Forest Rights Act involving communities.
• The 2023 amendment to the Forest Conservation Act has raised concerns about protecting unrecorded forests.

Conclusion

India's forests are a key climate asset, but quantity on paper must become quality on the ground. Community management and restoration of degraded forests matter more than counting plantations.