33 % Forest cover target unrealistic

Not long ago much of India was covered in vast and varied forests. Today just over one-fifth (21%) of the nation remains under forest cover, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) but an ambitious plan hopes to bring the forest cover percentage to 33%, or one third of the country. However that goal has been dubbed 'unrealistic' by none other than Minister for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh.

The goal is "unrealistic in a country like India where the population is 1.2 billion and set to become 1.6 billion by 2040. With the population and development pressure in our country, to expect India to suddenly grow a green cover from the present 21% to 33% is totally unrealistic,” Ramesh said at a Green Landscape Summit. India is currently the world's second most populous nation after China.

However, even the 21% forest cover is a misnomer, since 15% of those forests are plantations. Ramesh further pointed out that nearly half of India's forests are degraded.

India recently announced a $10 billion plan to expand forests and improve tree cover in degraded forests.

The Indian government has approved a bold plan to expand and improve the quality of its forests as a part of the nation's National Action Plan on Climate Change. The reforestation plan, dubbed the National Mission for a Green India (NMGI), will expand forests by five million hectares (over 12 million acres), while improving forests quality on another five million hectares for $10.14 billion (460 billion rupees).