More achievements for Gujarat in the 'green' region - the latest report of the forest survey of India revealing that the state's green cover has gone up fractionally by 16sq km.
However, though the extension of the total forest area has seen an upward movement by 0.08% and the state has thereby gained 86sq km in open forest area, 70sq km of moderately dense forest has been lost.
This brings the state's total forest cover to 9.66% of the state's total geographical area, much lower than the ideal requirement of a third of the total land. The report quotes state forest officials citing tree cutting by villagers as the reason for loss of forest cover in districts of Narmada, Surat, Valsad and Navsari. The report is on the basis of the satellite data derived in a survey conducted in 2007.
Though the increase might be diminutive, foresters are happy about the development, though not satisfied. "We have been striving hard for some time to increase the state's forest cover. Though we are happy that there has been some improvement, it is by no means satisfying and we have a lot more to do before we can settle down," principal chief conservator of forest, Pradip Khanna said.
Most of the increase in the green cover has been attributed to mangrove plantation in districts of Ahmedabad, Bharuch, Jamnagar and Kutch. The forest cover had decreased by 99 sq km comprising 0.66% of the total state forest cover as per forest survey of India's findings of 2005.
Forest cover has been one of the main concerns of the state forest department and a good deal of their efforts are geared towards increasing the green cover. Over the past few years, aggressive mangrove plantation has been the main activity of forest departments like Gujarat Ecology Commission and intensive studies on mangroves by GEER Foundation.
