A good piece of news that has brought smiles to sullen faces. Jammu and Kashmir’s forest cover has increased by 83.55 square kilometres between 2021 and 2023. According to the India State of Forest Report, J&K’s forest cover has increased from 21,262.84 sq km in ISFR 2021 to 21,346.39 sq km in ISFR 2023. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change told the parliament that protection and management of forests primarily lie with state governments and union territory administrations. The governments are authorized to implement the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, along with local forest and tree preservation rules to curb illegal deforestation. The Centre can only support states and UTs through schemes including the Green India Mission, Nagar Van Yojana, CAMPA, Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats, and forest fire prevention and management programmes to improve forest conservation and green cover. Forest and tree cover assessments are carried out biennially by the Forest Survey of India using satellite imagery and extensive ground verification. Monitoring and review of forest protection activities are done through annual plans and utilization reports submitted by states and UTs. The dark days of terrorism have had a cascading effect on our forests. Trees were cut indiscriminately, and forests were denuded with impunity. Terrorists doubling up as forest smugglers sold timber to fund their activities. Environmental protection had gone for a toss, and the entire machinery was rendered powerless before terrorist guns. Years later, J&K reaped what we sowed. Climate change has affected every aspect of life. The rapid depletion of natural resources and degradation of our ecology are posing a major challenge. The UT is warming at a higher rate than the world average. The average temperature of Jammu and Kashmir has increased by 1.2 degree centigrade in the last 100 years. During the same period, the average temperature of the Earth increased by 0.8 to 0.9-degree centigrade. Falling in the Himalayan region, Jammu and Kashmir has a geographic area of 101387 square kilometers. It excludes the 120849 square kilometer area, which is under the occupation of Pakistan and China. Around 20 percent of the total geographical area of Jammu and Kashmir is under forest cover. The higher regions are covered by Pir Panjal, Karakoram, and the inner Himalayan ranges of mountains. Since the forest cover has now increased, the government needs to strengthen its conservation setup. Forest protection agencies need to be strengthened to keep jungle smugglers at bay. Tough laws need to be enacted to ensure that those involved in trampling down our forests do not go scot-free. Policymakers should use technology for better monitoring. Ann Poshi Teli, Yeli Wan Poshi!
Forest cover
