Gurugram: The India State of Forest Report 2023, released Saturday by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav, paints a grim picture of Haryana’s forest cover.
The India State of Forest Report is a biennial publication of the Forest Survey of India (FSI) under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
While the 2023 report, the 18th such report, indicates an overall increase of 1,445 square kilometres in the total forest and tree cover across the country over the past two years, Haryana has witnessed a decline in its dense forest cover.
For Haryana, the report highlights a reduction of 0.83 square kilometres in very dense forests (three percent) and 4.2 square kilometres in moderately dense forests (roughly 1 percent) since the publishing of the previous report in 2021.
However, the report shows a marginal increase in the state’s open forests, which grew from 1,130.10 square kilometres in 2021 to 1,145.91 square kilometres in 2023.
The area classified as scrubland also expanded, increasing from 158.93 square kilometres (0.36 percent) in 2021 to 174.38 square kilometres (0.39 percent) in 2023.
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Forest classification and district-wise trends
The forest cover in the report is categorised based on tree canopy density as very dense forests, moderately dense forests and open forests.
Very dense forests have canopy density equal to or more than 70 percent, moderately dense forests have canopy density equal to or more than 40 percent and less than 70 percent, and open forests have canopy density equal to or more than 10 percent and less than 40 percent.
Fifteen of Haryana’s 22 districts recorded a decrease in forest cover over the past two years. Rohtak saw the steepest decline, with a 4.28 percent reduction in forest area, followed by Mewat with a 4.05 percent decrease. On the other hand, Ambala registered the highest increase in forest cover, with a 4.08 percent rise between 2021 and 2023.
The India State of Forest Report 2023 also reveals that the total forest and tree cover across India spans 8,27,357 square kilometres, accounting for 25.17 percent of the country’s geographical area. This includes 7,15,343 square kilometres (21.76 percent) as forest cover and 1,12,014 square kilometres (3.41 percent) as tree cover.
Compared to the 2021 assessment, the total forest and tree cover has increased by 1,445 square kilometres, comprising a 156-square-kilometre rise in forest cover and a 1,289-square-kilometre increase in tree cover.
The report highlights a significant decline in forest cover outside Recorded Forest Areas (RFAs) in Haryana, dropping from 1,229 square kilometres in 2021 to 885.33 square kilometres in 2023. Specifically, very dense forests outside the RFA decreased from six to 3.18 square kilometres, dense forests from 290 to 182.14 square kilometres, and open forests from 933 to 699.74 square kilometres.
Experts voice concerns
Vinod Bhatia, a retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer from Haryana and author of The Hidden Shades of Forestry: The Other Side, remarked that the report reflects a deterioration in the quality of Haryana’s forests.
“The decline in very dense and moderately dense forests indicates significant tree felling in the state over the past two years,” Bhatia said. He emphasised that forest density is the true measure of quality, adding, “An increase in open forests at the expense of denser categories signals poor forest management.”
Currently, only 0.06 percent of Haryana’s geographical area is covered by very dense forests, one percent by moderately dense forests, and 2.59 percent by open forests. In total, forest cover constitutes just 3.65 percent of Haryana’s geographical area, a figure significantly lower than Rajasthan’s 4.84 percent, despite the latter being considered a desert state.
According to the report, Rajasthan is among the top four states with the highest increase in forest and tree cover, alongside Chhattisgarh (684 square kilometres), Uttar Pradesh (559 square kilometres), and Odisha (559 square kilometres). Rajasthan’s forest cover is distributed as follows: 0.07 percent very dense forest, 1.24 percent moderately dense forest, and 3.53 percent open forest.
Environmental experts also voiced concerns over the methodology of the survey.
Bhavreen Kandhari, a Delhi-based environment activist who has been petitioning to protect the green cover in the Delhi-NCR region, questioned the accuracy of the survey.
The survey is conducted by agencies using satellite data to assess green spaces in each state.
“Satellite images are not the most accurate way to ascertain how much of the country’s forest cover has increased or decreased. A satellite picture will show any large swatch of green cover, even if it is a few shrubs, as a forest. There needs to be a more scientific way of ascertaining forest and green cover,” Kandhari told ThePrint.
Kailash Meena, a Haryana-based environmental activist, told ThePrint that despite rampant construction and its locational disadvantage, Haryana traditionally had a large forest cover because of the presence of the Aravallis.
“Over the years, government neglect and large-scale mining activities have shrunk the forest cover. Many native species of trees have vanished, and wildlife have been displaced,” Meena said.
Vaishali Rana Chandra, a Gurugram-based environmentalist, warned that Haryana is at risk of desertification unless stricter laws regulating tree felling on non-forest land are enacted and enforced.
“The forest authorities in Haryana are too lenient in approving tree-felling applications. This has led to the consistent decline in forest cover,” she stated.
Bhatia also questioned the accuracy of the report, pointing out discrepancies in the data. “The ISFR-2023 lists Haryana’s forest area as 0.74 percent in its land-use pattern analysis, yet the forest department claims 3.65 percent forest cover. This inconsistency needs to be addressed,” he said.
ThePrint reached Haryana’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Jagdish Chander and forest minister Rao Narbir Singh via phone. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
Neelam Ahluwalia, founder member, People for Aravallis group—a movement that works to conserve the Aravalli range and which spearheaded the Haryana Green Manifesto initiative before the 2024 state elections—told ThePrint that for many years, Haryana has been the state with the lowest forest cover in India, barely 3.6 percent.
“It is indeed disheartening that instead of our forest cover increasing, it is falling further. In the Haryana Green Manifesto submitted to all the political parties contesting assembly elections in the state this year, we had asked for legal protection for all forests and for the government to set a 10 percent target to increase native forest cover in four years,” she said.
“Instead of doing this, there are plans by the government to destroy existing forests in the state by making a road through the rewilded 400 acres of the Aravali biodiversity park in Gurgaon and open areas declared as protected forests in Mahendragarh district’s Rajawas village for stone mining.
“Some of the most polluted cities in India are in Haryana. The annual groundwater withdrawal is 137 percent of its extractable ground water resources. Around eight percent of our land is degraded and unfit for cultivation. The rate at which our forests are also declining, Haryana will soon become unliveable. Air quality, water and food security are all severely negatively impacted,” she added.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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