Forest Definition

Subject – Environment

Context – Forest report’s conclusion of increase in cover should not lead to complacency. Loss of natural forests is worrying

Concept –

At present, in India, there is no clear nationally-accepted definition of ‘forest’.
States are responsible for determining their definition of forests.
The prerogative of the states to define forests stems from a 1996 Supreme Court order called the T.N. Godavarman Thirumulkpad vs the Union of India judgment.
- SC had opined that all-encompassing definition of forest wasn’t possible for India because the country has 16 different kinds of forest and a tract of grassland in one State might qualify in one region as forest but not in another.
- In the judgement, the Supreme Court interpreted that the word “forest” must be understood according to its “dictionary meaning”.
- This description covers all statutorily recognised forests, whether designated as reserved, protected or otherwise.
The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) now has clarified that the States need not take the Centre’s approval to define what constitutes unclassified land as forest.
India’s forests are currently governed by the National Forest Policy, 1988 which has environmental balance and livelihood at its centre.

FAO’s definition of Forest

In 2017, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) slotted all plantations, other than oil palm trees, in its definition of forests.
Plantations are typically composed of even-aged trees of the same species. Such monocultures do have economic value and limited utility as carbon sinks.
- But they cannot be compared to natural forests in harbouring biodiversity or aiding pollination or as sources of water bodies.