Channel: Down To Earth

Category: Science & Technology

Tags: foresthealth mobilitycivil service preparationsmissing forestforest survey of indiaindia forest surveyias coachingdeforestationsustainable developmentenvironmentafforestationcseforest coverdown to earthscienceforest departmentupscfsicentre for science and environment

Description: India's State of Forest Report 2021 was released by the Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, on on January 13, 2022 states that India's forest cover has increased. But an indepth analysis done by Sunita Narain, Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment has found that India cannot account for 26 million hectares of forest or close to 34% of India's total 77.53 million hecatres of recorded forest. On the other hand forest expert M D MAdhusudan has questioned the methodology of how forests are accounted for. In India any patch of land which is one hecatre in size and contains a tree cover of 10% is considered a forest. Through this definition even plantations like tea gardens and coconut groves can be called forests. In this free wheeling conversation, Suinta Narain and M D Madhusudan discuss and deliberate how forests should be counted in India.