Forests essential to maintain balance between ecology & economy in cities

The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) is a biennial report released by the Indian government that details the extent of green cover in the country. The 2019 edition of the ISFR highlights the fact that the green cover in major cities has in fact increased significantly over the years. It is not often the case that growth in infrastructure and green cover are simultaneous for an urban area

The ISFR report of 2017-19 was released by Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on December 30. Javadekar said, “It gives me satisfaction to note that despite the immense biotic pressure on the country’s forests, the forest and tree cover continues to show an increasing trend over the years. This is the result of sustained conservation, protection and afforestation efforts implemented on the ground under the policies of the National Government and State Governments. It also reflects the direct impact of various Government schemes in the recent years, like ‘Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana’ which has considerably reduced the dependence of rural households on forests for fuelwood.”

Some Doubts that arose
The report shows encouraging signs in India’s campaign to achieve the pledged 33-35% reduction in the “emissions intensity” by 2030. But it has also raised doubts as some facts do not align with the results. First, the report defines forest cover as a piece of land with a tree canopy density greater than 10 per cent and more than 1 hectare in area, irrespective of ownership and species of trees, creating a doubt about the quality of the green cover earmarked in the survey. Secondly, it is not common to see a simultaneous growth in infrastructure and green cover as is highlighted here. Another fact that got lost amidst the celebrations was that carbon stock, which is the sequestration of carbon in a forest ecosystem, of many Indian states declined over the past two years although they reported a significant increase in their green cover.

Decoding the ISFR 2017-19

The question of quality
In order to understand more about this, Urban Update spoke to Swapan Mehra, CEO and co-founder, IORA Ecological Solutions and a prominent environmentalist working on climate mitigation, forestry and biodiversity conservation. The environmentalist verified the authenticity of the report but raised some questions about the quality of the enhanced forest cover India now has. The forest report analysis is done on the basis of something called as Green Wash Analysis. They basically put a Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in the satellite imagery which measures all the greens as forests. Therefore, quantitatively the results are correct. “The bigger question that arises is what about the qualitative aspect of forests, or if the right species have been identified? The satellite cannot capture that as it only focuses on greenery. So on the basis of that analysis, we can say the overall green cover has increased quantitatively, not necessarily qualitatively.”

Salient observations of the report
1. The Very Dense Forests of India covered 99,278 sq. km. area, Moderately Dense Forest 3,08,472 sq. km. and Open Forest 3,04,499 sq. km. The Forest Survey of India (FSI) used satellite imaging for identifying the green cover. 
2. The total tree cover of India now stands at 80.73 million hectares, approximately one-fourth of the country’s total geographical area.
3. Delhi’s forest cover essentially doubled in the past two decades, now standing at a 21.9 per cent area of the total area of National Capital Territory (NCT).

Parameters involved
We asked Mehra about the criterion used to judge the density of a green space. He told us that India actually uses a specific measure called ‘canopy density’ to decide the very dense forests, medium dense forest, open forest, tree cover areas. There is a specific percentage of area in a unit. So for example, if we take a pixel and the green covered area is covering more than 70 per cent area of the unit taken then we consider it as very dense forest. Similarly, 40 to 70 per cent green cover is considered as the moderately dense, 10 to 40 per cent is low dense, and less than 10 per cent is considered as the open forest. Also, there is another category – tree outside forest. Tree outside forest refers to tree clusters, parks, or even jungle (trees planted on a piece of land greater than 1 hectare is termed as forest/ jungle, technically) planted outside the legal forest area.

Slow growth of very dense forestation
Although there is no denying the increase in the overall vegetation of India but the increase in the very dense cover is not that significant. As the minister said in his aforementioned statement, almost every Indian state has implemented various schemes to conserve, so overall plantation is increasing. However, the growth rate of very dense forests (which fit the common definition of forests) is very slow. Mehra, the forest researcher, attributed this to various issues, primarily amongst them over population. “It is debatable that how many people are dependent on forests directly but one thing is for sure that the number is big,” he says. Another issue is deforestation for fuel, fruits and medicines. Although there are civil societies and policies in place for forest protection which are effective in protecting the forests from extraction to quite an extent. But most of the extraction is under the canopy and not every single one of them is illegal. As these extractions are under the canopy and do not affect the greens directly, the satellite is unable to track it easily until the trees cut start degrading. “Also, the degraded trees take time to regenerate. Therefore, the rate of increase of very dense forest is very low,” Mehra added.
If we take Mizoram as an example, 85 per cent of the state’s land is under forest cover but out of that only 5 per cent is under the very dense forest cover. This can be attributed to deforestation. The ISFR report also shows a decrease in the forest cover in the North Eastern States.

Mitigating urbanisation and biodiversity conservation
As rapid urbanisation is afoot in India, many forests are being cut down in favour of infrastructural expansion. The most recent of such cases being the Aarey deforestation to set up a shed for Mumbai metro. Now, as per law, when forest land is being used or greens are being cut down compensatory afforestation is to be done under the CAMPA bill. Also, as per the bill, the plantation should be done in the same region as near as possible from the area where trees were razed. In case the land nearby is unavailable then the respective amount is paid to the Forest Department and the department plants saplings somewhere else. Mehra was critical of the efficiency of the bill and gave an example of a State where around `70,000 cr got collected for the compensatory afforestation and the State was unable to spend it. Therefore, a new bill was released to distribute the amount among the States to carry out afforestation.
Also, the states have been directed that no more than five per cent can be spent as institutional cost and rest should be spent on the field. Hence, this system is very effective but in practice tracking its implementation is a bit debatable. The tracking gets problematic as if you consider cutting down a bunch of old trees and it takes you 10 years to replace the vegetation, then the ecological damage caused during this period will be significant. “There is a need to increase the value tremendously so that it can compensate the loss appropriately,” Mehra said.

Won’t an increase in greens combat air pollution?
A layman might question the simultaneous increase in pollution levels and forest cover as is the case for India. The expert validated this but also added that there is a need to look at different aspects when we talk about tree cover or forest cover. The composition of the forest plays an important role in controlling pollution levels. Not all species have the right biological and physical aspects to hold dust particles, sequester high amount of carbon, and rejuvenate water table. So, we need to have a combination of different native species. Another aspect which I would like to mention is that the trees planted along the roadsides, highways, gardens are more or less for ornamental purpose. The aesthetic appeal is also important and therefore in case of avenue plantations, it is preferred to plant species which grow upright and not horizontally like ficus.
India has set ambitious ecological and environmental goals for the next decade. We are targeting a 5-trillion-dollar economy and cutting down our carbon footprint simultaneously. Mitigating economy and ecology is a big task at hand for the government. In his opinion, Mehra believes that urban areas, which are hubs of economic activity, must incorporate more cluster forests in them.
“There are many ways to promote green cover in urban area. The most common approach amongst them is the Cluster approach where we create city forests, parks, etc. This is basically creating a few lungs in the city in the form of tree clusters and these are scattered citywide as per the need to reduce air pollution, recharge the water table, sound pollution, and more. These are the ‘Urban Forests’,” he said.
Developing city forests is better because they not only sequester more carbon as compared to a few individual trees but also helps in rejuvenation of groundwater table as well. They are also the natural habitat for the local fauna, thus promoting a healthy ecosystem. The government is also of the same view towards the city forests. When the problem of air pollution was at its peak in Delhi this November, Prakash Javadekar had pitched his experiment in Pune of creating an urban forest that would act as “green lungs” of any growing city. “The Centre had identified 200 cities and told the civic corporations there that we would give the money for the creation of urban forests.” For Delhi, there are already many city forests in place.

The state of Delhi’s urban forest Jahapanah City Forest

Our team visited Delhi’s urban forest which is open to the public, the Jahanpanah City forest. The entrance of the forest is aesthetically pleasing but the condition changes as we move deeper into the forest. The upkeep of the forest starts deteriorating. Jahapanah city forest is spread in an area of 435 acres and is quite dense. However, the forest department reported to Delhi Development Authority(DDA) in its report in January in 2019 that the instances of tree felling and deforestation are common as people extract wood regularly in the winter season.
There were claims and counterclaims between the DDA and the civil contractor who is in-charge of the upkeep of the forest. The DDA official told Urban Update that the trees are not marked in the area. The marking of trees is essential to keep track of them. The civil contractor, however, told us that the trees over the age of six have been marked. We did not see any markings on the trees during our visit. Further, the DDA said that there are no preventive measures for tree felling in the area, while the contractor said proper criminal cases are lodged against the persons who are caught cutting trees.
The other thing was the lack of public facilities as the number of toilets were inadequate in the area and a few toilets were neither functional nor maintained properly. Hence, open defecation in the area is rampant, the report also mentions the fact. While the DDA official says the civil contractor is responsible for the upkeep of toilets and the dustbins, the contractor points towards the authority for the same.
Open littering of garbage was a common sight during our visit as the city forest serves as a pathway for people living in the nearby colonies during the day. Most of these issues were reported by the state forest department of Delhi last year in January to the DDA but no concrete actions were taken.