Data related to forest area encroachment is updated by the states and there is no frequency for its measurement. While some states do perform regular exercises regarding encroachment, some states do not. As per a recent answer in the Lok Sabha, the forest land under encroachment has reduced significantly. However, the reliability of this data is questionable because of the lack of clear guidelines & definitions.
Forests have always been integral to mankind throughout history. In pre-independent India, the forests were treated as the primary source of timber and wood for railway expansion, which allowed the spread of the British territory to the hinterlands. Looking at the significant destruction of forests during the British era, the post-independent rulers had a different vision for forests. Accordingly, the first National Forest Policy (NFP) was formulated in 1952, which outlined its objectives through six paramount needs of the country. It is called to achieve a balance between using forests for economic development and adopting measures to ensure that land deterioration is least. It aims to maintain one-third of India’s land area under forests.
The decades following the 1950s were riddled with multiple environmental disasters, which ignited environmental awareness across the globe. The ‘Silent Spring’, written by Rachel Carson in 1962, talked about the harmful effects of indiscriminate use of pesticides on humankind and soon became a rallying point for environmental governance in the 1960s. This was followed by the first UN Environmental Conference in Stockholm in 1972, and a series of international treaties for environmental justice were adopted later. In 1987, the Brundtland Commission report, ‘Our Common Future’, highlighted the concept of sustainable development. It echoed the idea that the environment should also be an approach towards development, and it is an issue of social justice, and an integrated strategy should be adopted for managing the commons.
Amidst all these global as well as regional developments, the Indian Government revised the NFP in 1988. The NFP 1988 was envisioned for maintaining environmental stability by preservation, restoration and promoting tree cover through forestry programs and afforestation. It also called for actively creating a people’s movement involving women to reduce the existing pressures on forests. It clearly acknowledges the rights and concessions of tribals and gives them the first preference on forest produce. It calls for involving tribal people in associating with the forest development corporations.
The NFP 1988 could not fully achieve its objectives. The government had come up with the Draft National Forest Policy, 2018, which has not been implemented to date. This draft had invited serious criticism for several of its initiatives. Interestingly, this draft NFP talks very little about the rights of the tribals and the concessions provided to them, but places heavy emphasis on maximising forest productivity. The non-consultation of Ministry of Tribal Affairs during the preparation of this draft, as highlighted by the Parliamentary standing committee, is testimony to the lack of focus on the tribal population.
In this story, we look at the trends in the forest cover, with a specific focus on the encroachment of forest lands.
The data for this story is sourced from Dataful, which collated data on Forest Encroachment, provided by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in multiple parliament questions
Forest/Forest Cover definition and its Ambiguity
The NFP 1952 aimed at achieving that one-third of India’s total Geographical Area (GA) be under forest cover. The Forest Survey of India (FSI) defines ‘Forest Cover’ as “All lands having trees spanning more than one hectare in area with a tree canopy density of more than 10%, irrespective of ownership, legal status of the land, or species composition of trees.”
As per FSI’s data, the forest cover in India has increased from 19% of GA in 1987 to 22% in 2023, which shows that the stated goal of 33% GA under forest cover remains unachieved for over 7 decades.
Further, one must also be careful in taking the forest cover at its face value. It is essential to look at the key changes that each assessment of forest surveys made. These changes could be in the definition of forest cover, the type of technology and methodology used, unverifiable data, and so on.
The confusion in the definitions gets further perplexing when one tries to compare the total area of ‘Forests’ in India, as per the FSI’s definition of ‘Forest Cover’ and as per the legal definition of ‘Forest’ under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA).
It is ironic that until recently, there was no legal definition of what exactly constituted a ‘forest’. The Supreme Court (SC) in T.N. Godavarman Thirumulkpad vs. Union of India & Ors (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 202 of 1995) clarified that ‘forest land’ should not only be understood in the dictionary sense but also any area recorded as forest by the government, irrespective of ownership. In the same case, the SC categorically directed all the state governments to notify all forest lands in accordance with the same definition. However, these directions remained largely unimplemented across the states. Further, the SC’s definition of ‘Forest’ was sharply reversed by the 2023 amendment to the FCA, which limited the definition of ‘Forest’ lands to only those notified under the Forest Act, 1927, and those recorded under any other government records.
The definition has brought sharp criticism from many sections, and several groups have approached the SC, questioning the constitutionality of the 2023 FCA.
Encroachment pattern from 2002
The issue of encroachment of Forests is also ambiguous. Before we look at the data on the encroachment of forest land across the states, it is important to understand that:
- Firstly, there is no clear definition as to what constitutes an ‘encroachment’. In the absence of a clear definition and the nature and character of encroachments, the data presented should be analysed with caution. More on this is available in the Lok Sabha debates from 2005.
- Management and protection of forest areas is the responsibility of the respective State/Union Territories, and any action as per existing rules is taken by the concerned State/Union Governments.
- Encroachment data is updated by the states, and there is no frequency for its measurement. While some states do perform regular exercises regarding encroachment, some states do not.
- The data presented in the following chart is entirely sourced from the Parliamentary questions. One must be careful in interpreting the data. For example, the data in a 2015 parliamentary question might contain the state data from 2011, which has not been updated further.
As per the data provided in various parliament answers, the cumulative encroached forest land in 2002 was 14.94 lakh hectares. This has increased to 16.09 lakh hectares in 2007, which further increased to 17.94 lakh hectares in 2011. Since then, it has reduced gradually and settled at about 7 lakh hectares by 2023.
Even when compared by forest cover, as per FSI data, the forest area under encroachment has reduced over the years. In 2002, the total encroached area was 14.5 lakh hectares, accounting for 2.2% of the total forest area in 2001 (6.7 crore hectares). Although it peaked at 2.5% in 2011, relative to the total forest area in 2011 (6.9 crore hectares), the encroached forest area has declined significantly to 0.98% in 2023, against the total forest area in 2023 (7.1 crore hectares).
Between 2002 & 2023, Assam and Madhya Pradesh have consistently featured among the top 5 states in encroachments
Except for Union Territories (UTs), the area of encroached forest land varies widely across the states. While some states reported minimal variation over the years, some states have reported significant changes over the years. For example, Madhya Pradesh (MP) had 1.4 lakh hectares of forest area occupied in 2002. This has risen to 3.7 lakh hectares in 2015 and 5.4 lakh hectares in 2019. However, by 2023, this had reduced drastically to 54.1 thousand hectares.
Similarly, Gujarat, which had 34,791 hectares of forest land encroached in 2012, had reported only 25 hectares of forest land encroached in 2021 and 2023. This trend is also visible in the case of Karnataka. In 2002, 87,658 hectares of forest area were encroached. This had increased to 96,014 hectares in 2012. But, it has reduced to 28,001 hectares in 2019, and 407 hectares in 2019 and 2021.
It must be noted that if any state has two similar values for two different years, it can be interpreted as a lack of updated data. As mentioned earlier, in the absence of a proper definition for encroachment, the assumption that the data of all these states refers to something similar could be misleading.
Except in 2015 and 2019, the state of Assam stood in the top position for encroachment during 2002 & 2023. MP is another state which stood among the top 5 states between 2002 & 2024. Apart from these two states, another 9 states have featured among the top 5 states during 2002 & 2023.
Assam leads even when compared by encroached area to Forest Cover
Even when compared by encroached forest area to total forest area, the state of Assam consistently stood as the top state during 2002 and 2023. Tripura, another north-eastern state, had followed Assam up to 2015 with about 6-8% of forest area under encroachment. By 2023, it reduced to 0.5% of the total forest area. Between 2002 and 2023, a total of 13 states have featured among the top 5 states in encroachment.
Featured Image: Forest Land encroachment
