Wanted: better knowledge
For the state of forest reports to move away from being a smokescreen on India's forest cover and become a tool for enlightenment and intelligent decision-making, they must provide better classified forest cover data. First, the area under plantations and natural forests needs to be clearly separated out. Second, the area under natural forests should be broken down into the following categories:
• area under undisturbed. pristine forests;
• area under previously logged but now mature, regrowth natural forests.
• area remaining area under natural forests. The report should be able to tell us how much of the forest cover under the categories of undisturbed, pristine forests and previously logged but now mature, regrowth natural forests Is under the protected area network.
Third, the report should inform readers about the extent of the degraded forest area, including scrub areas, and how much of that land is undergoing natural regeneration with a separate indicator of how much of the land undergoing natural regeneration is under Joint Forest Management (JFM). Fourth, the report should provide information on the total area under plantations and how much of this plantation area is in state forest lands, state-owned revenue lands, panchayat lands and private farmlands.
Fifth, the report should provide information on how much area is being logged, including a breakdown of how much area which is being logged is pristine, undisturbed natural forest; previously logged but now mature, regrowth natural forest; plantations, and regenerated natural forests regained through JFM. And, last but not the least, the report should indicate which districts are undergoing a rapid erosion of or an increase in their forest cover.
State-level data reaches such a level of aggregation that it is impossible to understand or analyse specific causes behind the changes in the forest cover. They vary from one region to another. Once the public and decislon-makers can pinpoint the regions in peril, it would become easier to identify action. It would also put officials under greater pressure to manage the forest estate better. While some of this data can be obtained through the use of satellite imagery, other data may have to be collected directly from the field by state forest departments. But, if there Is a will, the government can certainly have a better way of informing the public about the country's forest cover on a regular basis.