MINISTER
ENVIRONMENT & FORESTS
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
NEW DELHI-110003

FOREWORD

Forests are a vital component to sustaining the life support systems on the Earth. Due to increasing pressure of population and the consumptive life styles, this precious resource has been dwindling over the years and has touched a critical low. How relevant was Mahatma Gandhi when decades ago, he worte "the earth has enough for everyone's need but not for anyone's greed". It needs to be emphasised that the overall food security of a nation is inextricably linked to its ecological balance, of which forest cover is a reliable barometer.

To ensure that this resource is being conserved, regular monitoring of the forest cover is of utmost importnace. The Forest Survey of India is fulfilling this task by preparing the State of Foreest Report (SFR) on a two-year cycle using aerospace technology supplemented with ground inventory.

SFR plays invaluable role in raising public consciousness about the status of forest cover and generating informed debate on the adequacy, or otherwise, of the conservation measures. It was only as the Minister of Environment & Forests that I realised, after going through the SFR that although the forest area in the country is about 23% of the geographical area, some kind of forest cover exists over 19% but real and meaningful forest cover extends to only about 11% of the area. The SFR is also being widely quoted and extensively used by the planners and other user agencies like the State Forest Departments. It has become an important reference document even in public interest litigations; at times, much to the discomfort of the Government itself who are the main custodian of the forests in the country.

The present Report, the sixth assessment of the forest cover, is based on the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS-1B) data. A comparison with the 1995 report reveals that the forest cover of the country has decreased by about 5,500 sq.kms. mainly in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Orissa, Manipur and Nagaland. Besides, there has been a further degradation of about 17,800 sq kms. in good forest cover. However, there have been siginificant gains in the forest cover in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Punjab and West Bengal.

For the first time, this report has highlighted the forest cover in hill districts and tribal areas where forests play crucial ecological and sustenance roles. Out of 95 hill districts of the country, only one third have two thirds or more forest cover as envisaged in the National Forest Policy 1998. Forests in the tribal areas account for more than 65% of the country's total forest cover. It is also interesting to note that in Haryana the standing volume of wood in non-forest areas is nearly 7 times that of the estimated volume in the forests areas. It is hoped that this may be a harbinger of production of wood from non- forest areas in coming years.

I take a great pleasure in dedicating this document to the nation on its 50th anniversary of Independence and hope that it will arouse much needed consciousness to conserve forests which constitute a very crucial element of country's inner vitality.

SAIFUDDIN SOZ