Economic forestry increases green cover by 0.32 pc in state

According to the recently released report of Forest Survey of India, districts like Erode and Salem with pockets of forests have faced massive destruction of tree cover, but the ongoing timber plantation, sapling plantation drive has added to the overall forest cover.

The report also noted that the scrub jungle and mangrove forests are other key areas where Tamil Nadu’s performance has been consistently below average. Chennai recorded a loss of one per cent tree cover when compared to the 2017 forest report.

“There is an overall increase in forest cover in the tribal districts by 1,181 square kilometres, however the forest cover inside the recorded forest areas in tribal districts shows a decrease of 741 square kilometres,” the report read.

“Gain in forest cover or improvement in forest canopy density may be attributed to better conservation measures, protection and afforestation activities. Despite nature showing its fury on few districts, the afforestation programme in the state has helped to absorb the impact of cyclones, Gaja, Vardah and Ockhi,” explained N Krishnakumar, former principal chief conservator of forests of Tamil Nadu.

The concept of economic forestry and ecological forestry has picked up due to the ongoing debate on climate change and this had helped to the state to retain its green cover, despite the nature’s fury in the form of back to back cyclones.

Anthropogenic pressure and developmental activities should be dealt with urban forestry and the quality seed sapling bank is essential for the state to raise its green cover from 22 per cent to the long-term target of 33 per cent forest cover, Krishnakumar who is also an expert in Taxonomy opined.

While West Bengal and Gujarat show a maximum increase of mangrove cover, the mangrove in Tamil Nadu dwindled by a whopping four per cent. The mangrove thickets in Cuddalore remained without any change, but the mangrove forests in Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam suffered maximum damages up to four per cent. Similarly, there was no change in mangroves in Ramanathapuram, Thanjavur, Tiruvallur and Thoothukudi.

“Muthupet lagoon and Point Calimere that serve as the epicentre of mangrove forests in Delta region has taken the maximum damage in Cyclone Gaja and this will need a long-term conservation plan,” explains conservation scientist A Kumaraguru of Biodiversity Conservation Foundation. Most of the coconut trees in Delta districts took the maximum destruction and even the native trees in Pudukkottai, Tiruchy, Tiruvarur and Thanjavur were not spared.

Quoting the report, Kumaraguru explained that the districts of Thoothukudi, Tiruchy and Tiruvarur have faced maximum damage losing more than ten per cent of trees. The respite for the state has come from the tribal pockets and the five districts that are interconnected with the Western Ghats, the conservationist said.