What If Afforestation Beat Deforestation in India?
What If Afforestation Really Outpaced Deforestation in India?
India’s official forest and tree cover data suggests that green cover has increased, which sounds like excellent news at first glance. But many environmentalists argue that this does not automatically mean our natural forests are recovering. A plantation of eucalyptus, bamboo, or other commercial species is not the same as an old natural forest with rich biodiversity, stable soil, water retention, and wildlife habitat.
That creates an important question: should we judge forest policy mainly by total tree cover, or by the ecological quality of the land being restored? If afforestation is growing faster than deforestation on paper, but natural forests are still being fragmented or replaced, can we really call that a success?
Question arises :-
Are we actually restoring forests, or just increasing the number of trees on paper?
What should matter more in forest policy: total tree cover, or the quality of the ecosystem?
Sources 👇🏼
1.(India State of Forest report)
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2086742®=3&lang=2
2.(India percentage in forest cover)
https://www.pib.gov.in/FactsheetDetails.aspx?Id=150425®=3&lang=2
3.(Experts against Forest survey)
4.(Eucalyptus in india)
https://www.fao.org/4/xii/0500-b2.htm
5.(Eucalyptus as a waterlogging control)
https://naas.org.in/Policy%20Papers/Policy%2074.pdf
6.(Eucalyptus inventory in india)
https://epubs.icar.org.in/index.php/IJA/article/view/173142/63371