Appraising Quality of India's Green Cover in Terms of Growing Stock

Abstract

Quality/productivity of green cover may be appraised in various ways and in different contexts. The present study attempted to evaluate productivity in terms of GS analysing data published in ISF Reports. It worked out trends in productivity in terms of quantity of GS per unit area within RFA, status of GS outside RFA and quality of green cover (FC+ tree cover) at National and State level by analysing the assessments of GS made by FSI so far. While highlighting constraints in the convergence of forest cover with GS in forests and tree cover with GS in TOF, the study brought to light a reduction of 583.02 million cum GS @ 7.19 cum per hectare in India's recorded forests from 1993 to 2015. The comparison of first biennial (2003) assessments of GS with the latest one (2015) figured out decrease in GS within RFA by 586.36 million cum @ 48.86 million cum per year.

The analysis also unfolded that the initial GS assessments (1993, 2003 and 2005) owing to small no. of sample plot were not comparable to the later assessments (2009 to 2015). Therefore, analysis of later assessments (2009 to 2015) brought out reduction of 329.813 m cum (303.61 million cum within RFA and 26.2 million cum in TOF) in GS of the country (both in forest and outside forest) in spite of 10577.08 km² increase in the total green cover construing thereby enhancement in the extent of green cover but downturn in quality. The annual rate of decrease in GS worked out as 54.969 million cum (50.6 million cum within and 4.37 million cum outside RFA) from 2009 to 2015.Likewise the productivity in terms of GS per unit area of green cover (in forest + in TOF) declined from 77.816 cum/ha. in 2009 to 72.627cum/ha in 2015 though the decline was sharp @ 5.546 cum/ha. in 2013 which mildly recovered thereafter.