India ranks third globally in forest area gain: Survey
- February 1, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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India ranks third globally in forest area gain: Survey
Topic: Environment
Context:
- India has increased its forest area in the past decade and ranks third globally in average
- India annually added an average 2,66,000 hectares of forest area over the period.
- Forests covered 24% of India’s geographical area, accounting for 2% of the world’s total forest area in 2020, the department said.
- The top 10 countries account for 66% of the world’s forest area. Brazil (59%), Peru (57%), Democratic Republic of Congo (56%) and Russia (50%) have half or more of their geographical area under forests.
- “Much of India’s increase in forest cover from 2011-21 is attributed to enhancement in very dense forest cover, which rose by approximately 20%,” the DEA said.
- Social forestry could also play a significant role in this regard,” said the report.
Social forestry:
- Social forestry is the management and development of forests with afforestation on barren lands to achieve environmental benefit and rural development.
- The term was first used by National Commission on Agriculture, Government of India, in 1976.
- It was then that India embarked upon a social forestry project with the aim of taking the pressure off the forests and making use of all unused and fallow land.
State of forest Report 2021: https://optimizeias.com/state-of-forest-report-2021/