NEW DELHI: A marginal increase of 4.9 sq km has taken Delhi’s green cover to 371.3 sq km, according to India State Forest Report 2023, released on Saturday. The forest cover reduced by a tiny fraction but tree cover improved, leading the report to state that 25% of Delhi’s total geographical area of 1,483 sq km was under green cover in 2023.
The biennial report by the Forest Survey of India was released by Bhupender Yadav, Union minister for environment, forest and climate change. The report found that the city’s forest cover saw a slight reduction in 2023 by 0.1 sq km compared with 2021, going down to 195.28 sq km in 2023 from 195.36 sq km two years earlier. However, the city’s tree cover rose from 171.1 sq km in 2021 to 176 sq km in 2023, thus putting around 11.9% of the geographical area of Delhi under tree cover.
Forest cover has been defined as all areas having tree cover with canopy density more than or equal to 10% and above, and area more than or equal to one hectare. Tree cover is the area covered by trees outside the recorded forest areas.
The report changed its methodology this year and revised data for 2021 too, so while tree cover and forest cover in the report released in 2021 showed forest and tree cover at 147 sq km and 195 sq km, respectively, the 2023 report modified the data.
In Sept, the Supreme Court pulled up Delhi govt’s forest department for not apprising it of any comprehensive measures taken to enhance the capital’s green cover. According to the report, Maharashtra has the maximum tree cover (14,524.9 sq km) followed by Rajasthan (10,841.1 sq km) and Uttar Pradesh (8,950.9 sq km). However, in terms of percentage of geographical area, Chandigarh had the maximum tree cover (18.6%) followed by Delhi (11.9%) and Kerala (7.5%).
Of Delhi’s forest cover of 195.3 sq km, very dense forest comprised 6.5 sq km, moderately dense 53.6 sq km and open forest, 135.3 sq km in 2023. Among the 11 districts, New Delhi, with a forest cover of 48.6 sq km in 2023, reported the highest reduction by 0.9 sq km from 2021. A very dense forest is one with a canopy density of 70% or more. Moderately dense forests have a canopy density between 40 and 70%, while open forests have a canopy density between 10 and 40%.
A forest official said, “The green cover in Delhi has increased to 25% of the geographical area. Efforts, including plantation drives and compensatory plantation, have borne fruit.”
Experts, however, expressed concerns about the methodology. CR Babu, professor emeritus and head of Centre for Environment Management of Degraded Ecosystems, said, “Invasive species have been included in the forest cover. In reality, Delhi’s tree cover is of low quality because it mostly has single-storey invasive species which do not contribute to the city’s ecological functions.”
Activist Bhavreen Kandhari, who has gone to court several times for the protection of Delhi’s green cover, said, “Tree cover cannot be calculated by satellite imagery. Even a green tarpaulin resembles a tree canopy. The report makes its calculations based on the satellite imagery of forest cover, which it defines as ‘all lands more than one hectare in area with a tree canopy density of more than 10%’, including plantations like champa and bougainvillea and orchards and grasses.”
Kandhari added that the reality was reflected in the disappearance of 144 trees in a few years after a recorded tree census in Sarvodaya Enclave.
Tree activist Padmavati Dwivedi said, “What species constitute the increase in green cover needs greater study because we see a lot of exotics, especially non-local palm trees. In recent times, even plants that are banned in some states such as Conocarpus erectus have been planted in large numbers in Delhi-NCR. If these are the plants that are part of the green cover, then it’s ne gative growth.”
