Forest that has been cut down in India and what will that place now

Forest goods and services, once thought to be abundant, are now a scarce resource.   This affects not only half the world’s land-based species of plants and animals, but also more than a billion people that are dependent on forests for livelihood.

The situation in India is no different. India has been trying to achieve its target of keeping 33 percent of its geographical area under forest cover for decades, but the 2017 State of Forest report shows that it is still struggling to get above 22 percent.

India has seen rapid deforestation in recent years, primarily due to its focus on economic development. According to data, 14,000sq km of forests were cleared to accommodate 23,716 industrial projects across India over the last 30 years.

While market-friendly reforms have succeeded in pulling millions of Indians out of poverty, economists say a significant proportion of the population is not reaping     the benefits of economic growth.                  Nearly 275 million poor people in India (more than a fifth of the population), especially tribal communities, depend on forests for subsistence and livelihoods. Almost 50 percent of the food requirements of forest dwellers are provided by forests.Many of these communities already suffer from limited access to health and educational services and benefit little from the government’s economic development programmes. Destroying forests has devastating consequences for them.

Deforestation is one of the most pressing environmental issues that the world is facing currently.

   It is the conversion of forested land to non-forested land by humans. Deforestation occurs when a land dominated by naturally occurring trees is converted to provide certain services in response to the human demand. 

        The indiscriminate felling of trees has resulted in a reduction of 3.16% in the global forest cover from 1990 to 2015. Although India has seen an increment in the total forest cover of cao. 1%, still there are certain regions in the country that have sought a decrease in the forest cover. 

       The main reasons attributed to the reduction in forest cover are shifting cultivation, rotational felling, other biotic pressures, diversion of forest lands for developmental activities, etc. Continuous illicit cutting of trees has impacted the microclimatic conditions, hydrological cycle, soil quality, biodiversity, etc. of the country, thereby making the country more vulnerable for any uneventful happening. 

      Sustainable forest management practices, alternatives for shifting cultivation, promotion of plantation outside the forest and the usage of certified forest products, etc. are some of the measures that can be adopted to curb the rate of deforestation.