More Than 90% of Forest Under Pressure

Hyderabad: Forests in Telangana, the most under pressure, have not fared well over the past several years. According to the India State of Forest Report (IFSR) 2023, just about 454 sq km of the state’s 27,688 sq km of reserve forest areas, have trees that can be considered old.

The rest of the forests, that fall outside protected areas such as wildlife sanctuaries and national parks, are mostly populated with much younger trees, indicating that old-growth forests have disappeared over the years.

The IFSR also highlighted that the practice of girdling – making deep cuts in the trunk after stripping the bark resulting in the death of a tree – was found in 13,480 sq km of reserve forests.

The girdling is done to ensure the death of the trees. Once the tree dies, it is claimed by those who girdled it as deadwood. This amounts to illicit harvesting of timber from the forests.

The report said that around 3,308 sq km of the reserve forests have trees with less than 10 cm diameter, while 8,608 sq km have slightly larger trees with up to 20 cm diameter, while 3,048 sq km have trees with up to 30 cm in diameter.

Only 454 sq km of these forests have trees with more than 30 cm diameter indicating that most of the reserve forest areas are in the regeneration stage, and comprise pole crops or small timber trees.

Only when a tree attains 30 cm or more in diameter is it technically considered a ‘proper’ tree, otherwise, they are considered saplings in technical terms, a senior forest department official explained.

The IFSR pointed out that 91.67 per cent – 25,381 sq km — of the reserve forests experience biotic pressure, which, the report says, is a result of the impact on forests from grazing and browsing by animals, man-made fire, illicit felling and lopping. Telangana has a free grazing policy in its reserve forests, and this is believed to be a contributing factor to 23,592 sq km of the forest categorised as eroded in the report.

Heavy illegal felling – more than 25 per cent of trees in surveyed plots were brought down – occurred in 2,478 sq km, while overall felling at various degrees, including heavy felling, occurred in 20,447 sq km of the reserve forests. Lopping of branches took place in 17,194 sq km of the forests, with heavy lopping occurring in 3,308 sq km, the report said.

Telangana, according to IFSR, was second in the country in the overall reduction of forest cover between 2021 and 2023 losing 105.87 sq km of its reserve forest. Tripura lost the highest at 116.90 sq km, while Andhra Pradesh’s total reserve forest loss was 83.47 sq km.

Infograph

Reserve forests: 27,688 sq km

Human-activity-related biotic pressure: 25,381 sq km

Soil erosion: 23,592 sq km

Illegal felling: 20,447 sq km

Grazing: 23,476 sq km

Girdling: 13,481 sq km

Lopping of branches: 17,194 sq km

Regeneration (natural or through planting) inadequate or absent: 7,013 sq km

Canopy (tree top cover) density reduced significantly in: 2,630 sq km