Question

Write what was the percentage of forest cover of India at the beginning and at the end of the twentieth century. How different is it from the one recommended by the National Forest Policy of our country?

Answer 1

At the beginning of the twentieth century, about 30% of India’s land was covered by forests. By the end of the century, this had reduced to 19.4%. The National Forest Policy of 1988 recommends 33% forest cover for the plains and 67% for the hills. Currently, the forest cover is around 24.01% of India’s geographical area, which is still less than the recommended levels, showing a significant gap between actual and desired forest cover.