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INDIA
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India Forest Figures
Forest Cover
Total forest area: 67,701,000 ha
% of land area: 22.8%
Primary forest cover: n/a
% of land area: n/a
% total forest area: n/a
Deforestation Rates, 2000-2005
Annual change in forest cover: 29,400 ha
Annual deforestation rate: n/a
Change in defor. rate since '90s: -92.3%
Total forest loss since 1990: 3,762,000 ha
Total forest loss since 1990:5.9%
Primary or "Old-growth" forests
Annual loss of primary forests: n/a
Annual deforestation rate: n/a
Change in deforestation rate since '90s: n/a
Primary forest loss since 1990: n/a
Primary forest loss since 1990:n/a
Forest Classification
Public: 98.4%
Private: 1.6%
Other: 0%
Use
Production: 21.2%
Protection: 14.8%
Conservation: 21.7%
Social services: n/a
Multiple purpose: 42.4%
None or unknown: n/a
Forest Area Breakdown
Total area: 67,701,000 ha
Primary: n/a
Modified natural: 32,943,000 ha
Semi-natural: 31,532,000 ha
Production plantation: 1,053,000 ha
Production plantation: 2,173,000 ha
Plantations
Plantations, 2005: 3,226,000 ha
% of total forest cover: 4.8%
Annual change rate (00-05): 84,200,000 ha
Carbon storage
Above-ground biomass: 4,093 M t
Below-ground biomass: 1,085 M t
Area annually affected by
Fire: 3,700,000 ha
Insects: 1,000,000 ha
Diseases: 8,400,000 ha
Number of tree species in IUCN red list
Number of native tree species: n/a
Critically endangered: 50
Endangered: 98
Vulnerable: 98
Wood removal 2005
Industrial roundwood: 1,252,000 m3 o.b.
Wood fuel: 3,472,000 m3 o.b.
Value of forest products, 2005
Industrial roundwood: $208,644,000
Wood fuel: $8,023,000
Non-wood forest products (NWFPs): $179,132,000
Total Value: $395,799,000
More forest statistics for India
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Tropical forest cover in India has been reduced to two major areas: the coastal hills of the Western Ghats (about 55,000 square miles or 135,000 sq. km) and 14,000 square miles (34,500 sq. km) in Northeastern India. Very little of India's forest cover is considered pristine.
In recent years, the government has become more vigilant at protecting forest resources. The fundamental shift occurred in 1988 when India switched the focus of its forest policy from a production mentality to an environmental one and began taking steps to reduce illegal logging and encourage wood imports in an effort to conserve local supplies. Reforestation is encouraged and plantation coverage has expanded by 65 percent since 1990. As a result of these efforts, total forest cover is actually increasing in India, although degradation of natural forest is still occurring, primarily as a result of subsistence agriculture, fuelwood collection, and cutting for construction materials.
Deforestation is perceived to be the culprit behind a number of environmental problems from floods, to soil erosion, to desertification, and today India has a particularly active environmental movement, especially at the grassroots level. Currently about 5 percent of the country has protected status under IUCN categories I-V.
From a biodiversity standpoint, India has some 2,356 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles, of which 18.4 percent are endemic. Of these, 10.8 percent are threatened. The country is home to at least 18,664 species of vascular plants, of which 26.8 percent are endemic.
Recent articles | India news updates | XML
India has 1400 tigers -- not 3500
(3/13/2008) A census of India's reserves found 1,411 tigers rather than the 3,508 estimated previously, according to the State Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Saving tigers in India
(11/8/2007) Over the past century the number of tigers in India has fallen from about 40,000 to less than 4,000 (and possibly as few as 1,500). Relentless poaching and clearing of habitat for agriculture have been the primary drivers of this decline, though demand for tiger skins and parts for "medicinal" purposes has become an increasingly important threat in recent years.
Asia's tigers could get big boost from small conservation efforts
(11/5/2007) Small changes to the management of wildlife reservers in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal could dramatically boost endangered tiger populations, reports a new study published in the journal Biological Conservation.
Successful relocation of villagers from wildlife sanctuary
(9/29/2007) The Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary is located in India's Western Ghats mountain range. The sanctuary contains some of India's most celebrated and endangered wildlife, including the Bengal Tiger and Asian Elephant. Other mammals include the Guar, Sambar, Slender Loris, Chital, and Leopard. The sanctuary is also rich in bird species (nearly 300 have been recorded) and butterflies. As well, the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary is one of twenty-seven reserves that are apart of Project Tiger: a program to save's India's last tigers and their habitats. In addition to containing some of India's richest biodiversity (recently India has applied for the Western Ghats to gain World Heritage status), the sanctuary was at one time home to thirteen villages that increasingly affected, and were affected by, their protected surroundings. In 2002 eleven of these thirteen villages were relocated to two towns outside of the sanctuary.
Flooding in India Leaves 3.5 million Homeless
(9/11/2007) The Indian military has been evacuating thousands of people from Assam, a state in northeastern India, after Monsoon rains flooded rivers. So far, 3.5 million people have been directly affected by the floods, in a state of 27 million. A total of 2,000 villages have been completely submerged by the floods, in some of the worst flooding in years.
With Corn ethanol more costly than oil, is Jatropha a better biofuel?
(8/24/2007) Jatropha may be a more economic biofuel than corn-based ethanol, reported the The Wall Street Journal on Friday, citing research from Goldman Sachs.
Elephants get Photo IDs for Protection
(8/15/2007) Asian elephants don't carry photo identification, so scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and India's Nature Conservation Foundation are providing the service free of charge by creating a photographic archive of individual elephants, which can help save them as well.
Scientists to investigate Bigfoot sighting in India
(6/10/2007) Indian authorities will conduct a "scientific study" to examine claims by villagers of Indo-Asian News Service. Villagers in the jungles of the Indian northeastern state of Meghalaya claim to have evidence of Bigfoot or Sasquatch, reports the Indo-Asian News Service. Government authorities said they will conduct a "scientific study" to examine the purported sightings near the border with Bangladesh.
Nobel prize winner debates future of nuclear power
(6/7/2007) Two renowned energy experts sparred in a debate over nuclear energy Wednesday afternoon at Stanford University. Amory Lovins, Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, an energy think tank, argued that energy efficiency and alternative energy sources will send nuclear power the way of the dinosaurs in the near future. Dr. Burton Richter, winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize in physics, said that nuclear would play an important part of the future energy portfolio needed to cut carbon emissions to fight global warming.
New snake-like lizard discovered in India
(5/28/2007) A previously unknown species of legless lizard as been discovered in a remote Indian forest, reports the Associated Press. Sushil Kumar Dutta, leader of a team of researchers from NGO Vasundhra and the North Orissa University, found the 7-inch long creature in the forests of Khandadhar near Raurkela in Orissa state, about 625 miles southeast of New Delhi.
CO2 emissions growth surges as global energy efficiency falls
(5/21/2007) Worldwide growth in carbon dioxide emissions has doubled since the close of the 1990s, reports a study published in the early on-line edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings suggest that the global economy is more dependent on fossil fuels than ever before, with carbon intensity--the amount of carbon needed to produce a unit of economic output--decreasing after a period of increases.
Carbon dioxide emissions lag 25% behind 2012 targets
(5/8/2007) The world is far behind carbon dioxide emissions targets set by the Kyoto Protocol reports the Little Green Data Book 2007, an annual publication put out by the World Bank. The publication notes that global carbon dioxide emissions have risen 19 percent since 1990, more than 25 percent behind goals set forth under the Kyoto Protocol, which called for a 5.2 percent reduction from 1990 levels.
Incandescent light bulb ban would cut India's GHG emissions 4%
(4/17/2007) A ban on incandescent light bulbs would cut India's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 4 percent said environmental group Greenpeace at a press conference Monday. Greenpeace argues that adopting compact florescent bulbs and other more efficient lighting technologies would help India fight global warming. India is already the world's fifth largest GHG polluter, accounting for around 3 percent of global emissions.
Human ecological footprint to grow 34% by 2015 finds study
(2/8/2007) Population size and affluence are driving environmental degradation according to a new study published in the current edition of the journal Frontiers in Ecology. The authors say other widely cited drivers of environmental stress -- urbanization, economic structure,
age distribution -- actually have relatively little impact.
Impact of new forest law in India unknown
(12/21/2006) A new law giving land rights to millions of poor Indian forest dwellers is stirring debate in the conservation community according to a report from Reuters.
Tigers can recover given protection, adequate food supplies
(12/13/2006) A new study says that if tigers are protected and have sufficient access to abundant prey, their populations can quickly stabilize. The findings have implications for conservation of the world's largest cat species which is fast-disappearing due to poaching for the animal parts trade.
Fighting air pollution could feed the hungry in India
(12/4/2006) Reducing human-generated air pollution could create agricultural benefits in India according to research published by University of California scientists in the current online issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Global warming increases flooding in India
(12/1/2006) Extreme rains are becoming more common in India as more moderate rains decline, increasing the risk of flooding, according to a study published in the journal Science. The study, conducted by scientists at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, found that heavy rain events -- one where at least 3.9 inches (100 mm) of rain fell -- are more frequent and severe than they were in 1951. The increase in heavy rains is offset by a decline in moderate rains, leaving overall rainfall levels unchanged overall. However the increase in heavy rain events means catastrophic flooding and landslides are more common said B.N. Goswami, lead author of the research.
China may surpass U.S. in carbon dioxide emissions by 2009
(11/7/2006) China's output of carbon dioxide, a gas linked to global warming, may surprass that of the United States by 2009, about a decade earlier than previous estimates according to a report released Tuesday by the International Energy Agency. China currently ranks second behind the United States in carbon dioixde emissions, but rapid economic growth, fueled heavily by coal, is spurring a dramatic rise in greenhouse gas pollution. China's emissions growth is one of the big reasons why the United States and Australia have refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol which calls for emissions limits for industrialized countries but none for developing economies including China, India, and Brazil.
Australia says global warming pact pointless without India and China
(11/1/2006) Australia said there is "no point" of Australia signing the Kyoto Protocol on global warming unless it applies to China and India too, according to the BBC News web site
Suggested reading - Books
Unless otherwise specified, this article was written by Rhett A. Butler [Bibliographic citation for this page]
Other resources
Contact me if you have suggestions on other rainforest-related environmental sites and resources for this country.
CIA World Factbook
CIA-World Factbook Profile
FAO-Forestry Profile
Last updated: 4 Feb 2006 |
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