Forests And Forestry In India: A Study With Respect To The Potential For Carbon Mitigation

India occupies only 2.50% of the total land surface of the world. With a geographical area of 329 million ha, it is world’s seventh largest country after Russia, Canada, the US, Brazil, Australia and China. It has varied edaphoclimatic conditions ranging from the cold montaine climate in the north to a warm tropical one in the south to dry hot desert in the north west. This diversity of climatic conditions is also reflected in the forest and biodiversity resources of the country. Historically India had over 65% of its total land under forests as early as in 1925. During the British colonial period, the main efforts on forest management contracted on extraction of timber only. As a result the forest cover had shrunk to 40% by the middle of the century. Since India’s independence the figure has shrunk to 19% today, with a substantial part of this being highly depleted.

The trend in decline in forests in India has not been in anomaly with that of forests in other tropical countries. But given India’s vast population and the vulnerability of the productive capacity of its terrestrial ecosystems to a sliding forest cover, India has been closer to a dangerous threshold of declining forests than any other tropical country.

The downward trend of forest cover has been stemmed since 1980 when a central legislation, the Forest (Conservation) Act, was brought into effect in order to check uncontrolled diversion of forest areas for other purposes, particularly for agriculture and human settlement. The Act of 1980 was a culmination of the report submitted by the National Agriculture Commission in 1976 in which it was brought forth that continued decline in forest cover of the country could cripple its agriculture production, since a vast proportion of the country’s remaining forests performed the protective function of recharging and conserving the watersheds and the basins on which the agricultural fields had depended.

Apart from preventing loss of notified forest lands, there has been an increase in the actual forest cover during the last two decades. From 1980 to 1995 there has been a total forest cover increase of 38,000 ha, an increase of over 0.1 percent per annum. This has been possible both because of reduced rate of deforestation, whether or not accompanied by denotification, and because of substantial increase in reforestation activities, not least being implemented under the externally aided forestry projects.

Present Forest Cover

Accordingly to the latest statistics (Table 1) the aggregate recorded forest cover in the 28 states and union territories of India is 76.52 million ha or 23.28% of the total geographical area. Not all recorded forests are well stocked. The area of forests that are considered closed (by international standards, a canopy cover of 40 percent and above) is 11.48% of the geographical area and that of open forest (canopy cover between 10 and 40 percent) is 7.76% of the geographical area . Going by the potential for economic exploitation, it would appear that 90% of the forests are performing the critical functions of protecting fragile watersheds and are not fit for commercial exploitation. As shift in the national forest policy of India (see below), logging of forests has now been accorded the lowest priority with societal benefits mainly flowing from the protective and environmental benefits role of the forests apart from meeting the subsistence needs of the communities living close to the forests.

Table 1: Forest Cover As Per 1999 Assessment

Class	Area in sq.km.	Percentage of Geographic area
Dense forest	377,358	11.48
Open forest	255,064	7.76
Mangrove	4,871	0.15
Sub-total	637,293	19.39
Scrub	51,896	1.58
Non-Forest	2,598,074	79.03
Total	3,287,263	100.00

Recent Trends Of Change In Forest Cover

The recent trend of change in forest cover has been positive. During the biennial successive assessments of 1997 and 1999, it is seen that there has been a net increase of 3,896 sq km in the total forest cover. The inter-class changes have been more pronounced as is shown in the change matrix in Table 2.

Table 2: Forest Cover Change Matrix (Sq.Km)

1997 Assessment	1999 Assessment Dense Forest Open Forest Mangrove Scrub Non-Forest					Total 1997
Dense forest	363,861	2,773	0	8	618	367260
Open forest	10,860	250,306	0	0	144	261310
Mangrove	0	0	4,811	0	16	4827
Scrub	1,516	653	0	51,000	4,042	57,211
Non-forest	1,121	1,332	60	888	2,593,254	2,596,655
Total 1999	377,358	255,064	4,871	51,896	2,598,074	3,287,263
Net change	+10,098	-6,246	+44	-5,315	+1419

Recorded Forest Area

The recorded forest area of the country is 76.52 million ha which constitutes 23.28 per cent of the total geographical area. This area is classified into reserved forests, protected forests and unclassed forests which constitute 55%, 29% and 16% respectively of the total forest area.

Ownership Of Forests

The ownership of the forest rests mainly with the Government. However, in the North-Eastern states the communities and clans also own significant areas of unclassed forest. Under the Indian Forest Act 1927, which is the principal piece of legislation regulating forests in India, public forests may be managed in partnership with village communities and other private parties.

Standing Volume And Productivity

The stocking and productivity of forests in India (standing volume 74 cum/ha) has been and still is far from the world average (standing volume 126 cum/ha). A major reason for this is the heavy charge drawn upon the forests due to human and livestock population pressure. A large part of India’s forests fall in a dry climatic zone where the species composition and the natural growth rate pose an inherent limit upon the productivity of the forests. At the same time, the level of scientific management and silvicultural treatment provided to forests in India is far below that of industrialised countries, and this is one of the reasons for lower productivity of its forests.

Plantations

Forest plantations have a long history in India. Today India ranks second (after China) in the world in terms of total area of forest plantations. The plantation programme grew rapidly during the social forestry phase of 1985-95, when focus of plantations shifted from traditional forest lands to the other commons such as village wastelands and pastures, strips along roads and railways, urban areas and private woodlots. Today the annual rate of forest plantations is 1.60 million ha.

Table 3: Area Under Forest Plantations

Species group	Area (ha) %		Industrial (%)	Non Industrial
Acacia spp.	6,403,600	19.7	15	85
Dalbergia	960,500	2.9	90	10
Eucalyptus	8,004,500	24.6	30	70
Gmelina	320,200	1.0	70	30
Mahoganies
Rubber	559,600	1.7		100
Teak	2,561,400	7.9	100
Terminalia	320,200	1.0	100
Other Broadleaved	10,245,800	31.4	30	70
Casuarina spp.	1,600,900	4.9		100
Pinus spp.	640,400	2.0	100
Other Coniferous	960,500	2.9	100
Unspecified
Total	32,577,600	100.0

Species In Plantations

The earliest plantations raised date to 1840 and were of a native species, Tectona grandis, noted for its valuable timber. Even today teak occupies an important place in the list of species planted in regular programmes. Eucalyptus was introduced in 1910 in Nilgiri Hills in South India and is today the top ranking species in plantations. Plantations for soil conservation, fuel and fodder is today the dominant objective of plantation forestry. Industrial and commercial plantations today constitute 45% of all plantations.

Plantation Productivity

Productivity of plantations, like that of its forests, is quite low. The mean annual increment (MAI) for teak at the average rotation age of 58 years varies between 0.6 to 7 m³/ha/year with a mean of 2.5 m³/ha/year compared to the world average of 25 m³/ha/year. Table 4 shows data for productivity of plantations by species.

Table 4: Productivity Of Salient Plantation Species

Species	Rotation (years)	MAI (m³/ha/year)
Dalbergia sissoo	30 to 40	4 to 6
Eucalyptus spp.	10 to 20	8 to 12
Gmelina arborea	30 to 40	10 to 15
Acacia nilotica	20 to 25	3 to 4
Populus spp.	8 to 10	20 to 25

Forest Ecosystem Types

India has a wide variety of forest ecosystems (Table 5). This makes India one of the world’s megabiodiversity countries. The greater part of the forests, about one half, are of two types, namely, the tropical dry deciduous and the tropical moist deciduous forests.

Table 5: Principal Forest Types of India

Forest Type	Principal species	Area (million ha)
1. Tropical dry deciduous forests	Anogeissus pendula, Boswellia serrata, Acacia nilotica, Butea monosperma	29.7
2. Tropical moist deciduous forests	Shorea robusta, Tectona grandis, Terminalia spp., Albizzia spp., Dalbergia spp.	22.4
3. Tropical thorn forests	Prosopis cineraria, Acacia leucophloea, Acacia nilotica, Zyzyphus spp., Salvadora spp.	5.2
4. Tropical wet evergreen forests	Dipterocarpus macrocarpus, Shorea assamica, Mesus ferea	4.1
5. Subtropical pine forests	Pinus roxburghii, Pinus kesiya	3.7
6. Himalayan moist temperate forests	Quercus leucotrichophora, Q. dilata, Pinus wallichiana, Cedrus deodara; Abies pindrow, Picea smithiana, Cupressus torulosa	2.7
7. Tropical semi-evergreen forests	Dipterocarpus macrocarpus, Shorea assamica, Mesus ferea mixed with Terminalia spp., Bombax ceiba, Mangifera indica, Michelia champaca	2.4
8. Montaine wet temperate forests	Quercus spp., Castanopsis spp., Rhododendron nilagiricum	1.6

Biodiversity and Protected Areas

India is one of the world's 12 mega-diversity countries. It is very rich in biological diversity with about 75,000 species of animals and 45,000 species of plants. Among the wild fauna; India houses 340 species of mammals,1200 species of birds, 420 of reptiles, 140 of amphibians, 2000 of fishes, 4000 of molluscs and 5000 of insects apart from other invertebrates. Among the flora are 15,000 species of flowering plants, 5000 of algae, 1600 of lichens, 20,000 offungi,2700 of bryophytes and 600 of pteridophytes.

An important objective of conservation of India’s biodiversity coincides with that of management of its forests. For in situ conservation of bio-diversity of the country, 87 National Parks and 485 Wildlife Sanctuaries have been created so far with total area of 4.06 million ha and 11.54 million ha respectively. These together constitute 15.60 million ha or 4.75% of the geographic area of the country. There are 11 Biosphere Reserves with a geographical area of 4.76 m ha. A large part of this area spreads even beyond protected areas as they are distinct geographic entities.

Six internationally important wetlands of India have been declared as 'Ramsar Sites' under Ramsar convention. For intensive conservation and management, eleven more wetlands have been identified in the country.

Role Of Forests In The National Economy

Historically, forests in India have been viewed solely with the potential for timber as their main value. This was a logical viewpoint emanating from the colonial rulers, but this unfortunately continued to be the official view of the government even after independence. Not until the 1980s were the truly valuable ‘services’ rendered by forests were recognised as important, though these are still not counted in the national budget. Notwithstanding the figures, the place of forests in the national economy was recognised when the National Agriculture Commission recommended a shift in forest policy from one based on direct benefits to that encompassing the total value of services rendered by the forests.

The direct benefits of forests counted as revenue to the national exchequer has gone down from 5% in 1970 to 2% in 1998. The principal source of this revenue has been harvested timber (35%), and other non-timber forest produce (65%). In several states forests are an important source of revenue. But in the country as a whole, it is the non-tangible benefits of ‘service’ provided by the forests that dominates. Among these service benefits are the direct and concrete benefits in form of subsistence harvesting by the communities. Removals in form of grazing of livestock and extraction of food, fibre and fuel wood are the main charges on the forest resources.

After the new national forest policy announced in 1988, the official emphasis has been shifted to manage the forests for their services rather than their potential for production of wood and timber. As result the visible statistics reflecting on the national budget will not be seen unless some kind of green accounting method is used. Such methods are far from being likely in near future, since these are even not adopted in even the most vocally ‘green’ countries of the world.

Products And Trade

India’s main forest products are non-industrial roundwood (300 million cum in 1997) and fuelwood and charcoal (270 million cum). Industrial roundwood production (20 million cum) is negligible compared to these two products. Trade in forest products is in deficit, as large quantities of paper and paperboards (620,000 MT) and wood pulp (30,000 MT) is imported to meet domestic need. This is despite the fact that India’s paper consumption is one of the lowest in the world. On the other hand India is world’s largest producer and consumer of fuelwood. Total value of India’s export and import in 1998 was $36 million and $785 million respectively.

Non-Wood Forest Products

Non-wood forest products are becoming increasingly important. The more important of these are medicinal plants, resins, gums, edible oils, essential oils, tannins, dyes, lac, bamboo, canes, fibres, grasses, Bidi leaves and fodder. Most of these are harvested and utilised informally and therefore it is difficult to estimate their quantity or market value. However, it is estimated that their value far exceeds that of the recorded produce such as roundwood and timber.

Industry

India’s forest industry is characterised by small units and lower operating efficiency. There is an acute shortage of raw material. Main forest industries are in paper, matches, resins, bidi leaves and saw mills. A major source of supply of raw materials in saw mills and paper is from outside the forests rather than from the forests. Plantations are becoming an increasingly important source of raw materials.

Forest Administration And Management

History Of Forest Management

India is the only country outside of North America and Europe to have had a long history of forest management. Although ancient Indian scriptures and other texts literature endows forests and trees with great veneration (one text by Kautilya and the emperor Ashoka even talks of reserved forests), scientific study of managed forests and their husbandry came with the colonial rule only. The first government official, the Conservator of Forests, was one Captain Watson of police department who was charged with taking care of the government’s interests in acquiring timber for the navy in Malabar and Travancore in south India. This was followed by various appointments in coming decades, culminating in the appointment of the German forester Dietrich Brandeis as the Inspector General of Forests of India. The Indian Forest Department was then set up with British officers in senior positions and Indian officers to assist them. The former were trained at the Royal Indian Engineering College at Cooper’s Hill whereas the latter were trained at the Indian Forestry School established in 1878 at Dehra Dun. Forest guards and other staff were recruited locally.

The work of the Forest Department was centred on implementation and enforcement of the Forest Act of 1878 (replacing an earlier one of 1865). Their responsibilities included control of all reserved forests including harvesting if timber and restricting access of the people and livestock to these forests. By 1890 almost every province in India had a permanent forest administration to look after the state forests, which had reached the level of 60,000 square miles of reserves. The conflict between the local populations and the forest administration were already evidently high and very common right from the beginning. As customary rights of the local populace were ignored while declaring the reserves, intimate dependence of people’s livelihood on forests were bound to lead to such confrontation.

On arrival of the railways during British India the exploitation of forests, particularly of hill forests, intensified. Millions of wooden sleepers for railway tracks and fuel for the workers and timber for the building meant heavy charge upon the forests irrespective of their regenerating capacity. Massive deforestation in the Himalayas resulted from this.

Till this point the efforts of ‘scientific’ management were aimed at devising more and more efficient ways of logging, extracting and transporting of timber and some improvement and advances in timber engineering and timber use. The aspects of the regeneration of forests and of protective role of forests were largely ignored. Though the new Indian Forest Act of 1927 spoke of reserved, protected and village forests, the basic pattern of restricting people’s access to ‘government’ forests continued to be in force. As a result the antipathy between the forest department and the village communities remained and did in fact grow more intense over the time.

Present Forest Policy And Administration

After independence the rights to manage forests were vested in the state governments which was a continuation of the arrangements made in the colonial Government of India Act of 1935 passed by the British parliament. Control of forests remained with the state governments until 1976 when the central government in India realised that rapid dereservation and deforestation of forests areas would lead to total depletion of the resources and consequent ecological disaster, that the subject of forests was put on the concurrent list whereby enabling the parliament of India to legislate in the matter of forests. In 1968 a new all-India forest service was created. Called the Indian Forest Service it represented kind of continuation of the earlier service of the same name, but was created under the peculiar provisions of the Indian constitution that allows establishment of dual control services. While the members of the Indian Forest Service, like those of the other two all-India services, namely the Indian Police Service and the Indian Administrative (continuation respectively of the Indian Police and the Indian Civil Service of the British times), are appointed by the central government upon recommendation of the constitutional body called Union Public Service Commission, their services are placed at the disposal of the various state governments. Each state has a state forest service, a cadre of officers who assist and work under the Indian Forest Service officers. At present the Indian Forest Service has a countrywide strength of 2430 officers.

The basic forest management unit is a forest division which may comprise of 100,000 to 300,000 ha of forests. Within a forest division there are field level units called ranges (usually five to ten in a division, charged with a ranger or range forest officer) which are further divided into forest blocks on natural boundaries such as ridges and drainage lines. Usually four to five forest divisions constitute a forest circle with a conservator of forest in charge. Above this (supervisory) level there is no fixed pattern in general but a chief conservator of forests may in charge of directing three to five circles. The head of forest department in a state is called the principal chief conservator of forests. Though he is supposed to advise government on technical and policy matters, in practice it is rare that he is able to or is allowed to influence or make policy decisions. Most policy level work is decided by the generalist administrators who work as secretaries in departments of forest, personnel, and finance.

Forest Management

Scientific forest management practices have been applied in all types of Indian forests for more than a century, allowing the annual harvest of wood based on assessment of the growing stock, the annual increment and the principles of sustained yield. Traditionally the forests were worked by private contractors. The National Commission on Agriculture recommended elimination of the Contractor System and working of forests by State-owned Forest Development Corporations. As a result, Forest Development Corporations were established in several States. They are engaged in harvesting and marketing of forest products and reforestation. Some of the Corporations have diversified their activities by establishing wood processing units.

Under twenty percent of the forest cover is "unclassed forests". These are inaccessible fores

Extent Of Forest Cover Over The Years

Table 1: Forest Cover As Per 1999 Assessment

Percentage of Geographic area