India State of Forest Report (ISFR)2023, Report

September 26, 2024

The release of the India State of Forest Report (ISFR), which provides a detailed account of the country’s forest cover, has been delayed for over a year. This delay has led to speculation, particularly among forestry officials. The ISFR is published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), an organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). Since its first edition in 1991, the ISFR has been an important publication, coming out every two years.

What is the ISFR?

The ISFR gives a clear picture of the state of forests in India. It has been published every two years since 1991, making it a key source of data for government officials, environmentalists, and researchers. This report helps shape policies and understand India’s forests’ health.

Why is the ISFR 2023 Delayed?

This is only the second time the report’s release has been delayed, with the first delay happening in 2007. Some forestry officials believe the delay could be due to a significant decline in forest cover, which might explain why the government is hesitant to publish the report. The last report came out in 2021.

What did the Previous Report Show?

The 2021 ISFR showed that India had a forest cover of 713,789 square kilometers, which was a small increase from the 2019 report. However, some officials have raised concerns about how forests are classified, suggesting that some data might give a misleading picture of the actual forest conditions.

Changes in Forest Laws

Recently, amendments were made to the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, now renamed the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 2023. These changes could allow certain areas of forest that are not officially recorded to be used for development projects. This has alarmed environmentalists and retired forest officials, who believe it could lead to further environmental damage.

Legal Oversight

In February 2024, the Supreme Court ordered the MoEFCC to publish State Expert Committee (SEC) reports online. This was done to ensure transparency in how forests are classified, following earlier court rulings like the 1996 TN Godavarman case, which emphasized the protection of forests.

Deforestation in India

According to Global Forest Watch, India has experienced a large loss of tree cover between 2001 and 2023. About 95% of this loss happened in natural forests, casting doubt on claims that India’s overall forest cover is increasing. Activists believe that the data on forest cover growth may not tell the whole story.

Government’s Response

Bhupender Yadav, the MoEFCC minister, acknowledged that some forest areas have been lost to development projects but also pointed to successful compensatory afforestation efforts (planting new trees to replace lost ones) between 2013 and 2023. Despite this, questions remain about the accuracy of the data, especially since it relies on satellite imagery, which can sometimes be misleading.

Issues with Forest Data

When looking at forest data from past ISFR reports, there have been inconsistencies, particularly in the classification of unclassified forests. For example, states like Odisha and Goa have shown big changes in reported forest cover, which makes people skeptical about the data’s reliability.

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