NEW DELHI: A marginal improve of 4.9 sq km has taken Delhi’s inexperienced cover to 371.3 sq km, in response to India State Forest Report 2023launched on Saturday. The forest cover diminished by a tiny fraction but tree cover improved, main the report back to state that 25% of Delhi’s complete geographical space of 1,483 sq km was underneath inexperienced cover in 2023.
The biennial report by the Forest Survey of India was launched by Bhupender Yadav, Union minister for surroundings, forest and local weather change. The report discovered that town’s forest cover noticed a slight discount in 2023 by 0.1 sq km in contrast with 2021, taking place to 195.28 sq km in 2023 from 195.36 sq km two years earlier. However, town’s tree cover rose from 171.1 sq km in 2021 to 176 sq km in 2023, thus placing round 11.9% of the geographical space of Delhi underneath tree cover.
Forest cover has been outlined as all areas having tree cover with cover density greater than or equal to 10% and above, and space greater than or equal to at least one hectare. Tree cover is the world lined by timber exterior the recorded forest areas.
The report modified its methodology this 12 months and revised information for 2021 too, so whereas tree cover and forest cover within the report launched in 2021 confirmed forest and tree cover at 147 sq km and 195 sq km, respectively, the 2023 report modified the information.
In Sept, the Supreme Court pulled up Delhi govt’s forest division for not apprising it of any complete measures taken to boost the capital’s inexperienced cover. According to the report, Maharashtra has the utmost tree cover (14,524.9 sq km) adopted by Rajasthan (10,841.1 sq km) and Uttar Pradesh (8,950.9 sq km). However, when it comes to share of geographical space, Chandigarh had the utmost tree cover (18.6%) adopted by Delhi (11.9%) and Kerala (7.5%).
Of Delhi’s forest cover of 195.3 sq km, very dense forest comprised 6.5 sq km, reasonably dense 53.6 sq km and open forest, 135.3 sq km in 2023. Among the 11 districts, New Delhi, with a forest cover of 48.6 sq km in 2023. , reported the very best discount by 0.9 sq km from 2021. A really dense forest is one with a cover density of 70% or extra. Moderately dense forests have a cover density between 40 and 70%, whereas open forests have a cover density between 10 and 40%.
A forest official stated, “The green cover in Delhi has increased to 25% of the geographical area. Efforts, including plantation drives and compensatory plantation, have borne fruit.”
Experts, nonetheless, expressed considerations concerning the methodology. CR Babu, professor emeritus and head of Center for Environment Management of Degraded Ecosystems, stated, “Invasive species have been included in the forest cover. In reality, Delhi’s tree cover is of low quality because it mostly has single-storey invasive species which do not contribute to the city’s ecological functions.”
Activist Bhavreen Kandhari, who has gone to court docket a number of instances for the safety of Delhi’s inexperienced cover, stated, “Tree cover cannot be calculated by satellite imagery. Even a green tarpaulin resembles a tree canopy. The report makes its calculations based on the satellite imagery. of forest cover, which it defines as ‘all lands more than one hectare in area with a tree canopy density of more than 10%’, including plantations like champa and bougainvillea and orchards and grasses.”
Kandhari added that the truth was mirrored within the disappearance of 144 timber in a number of years after a recorded tree census in Sarvodaya Enclave.
Tree activist Padmavati Dwivedi stated, “What species constitute the increase in green cover needs greater study because we see a lot of exotics, especially non-local palm trees. In recent times, even plants that are banned in some states such as Conocarpus erectus have been planted in large numbers in Delhi-NCR. If these are the plants that are part of the green cover, then it’s negative growth.”
