Forest policy of India

In this Article, We would like to study about Forest Policy of India.The history of Forest policy of India has been very interesting. Forest is a valuable asset of any country. To save this, the government brings its policies from time to time. In this article, you will read about India’s National Forest Policy and you will also see important questions related to it.

National Forest policy

• The policy is the ideas that are edited in a certain framework, they have an objective and they have a period.
• Many types of policies have been prepared in India such as education policy, industrial policy, employment policy, agricultural policy, environment policy, forest policy, etc.
• Any country prepares policies for its development, thus the policy is a framework by which the country prepares the way for its development.
• Forest is full of biological resources such as trees, shrubs, and grasses, animals etc. This is the basis of ecology and the environment. The entire ecology and environment of our country depend on the biological resources of the forests, so a policy is needed for its sustainable development.otherwise, this valuable resource will be depleted.
• Therefore, there was a need for a policy of the government to conserve this valuable resource because there is always a danger of their getting exhausted due to the continuous exploitation of these biological resources.

The first forest policy of India

India’s first forest policy of India was made by the British government in 1878, but the purpose of this policy was not the conservation of forests, but the exploitation of forests, this policy was made by the British to exploit forests according to their use.

The second forest policy of India

The second forest policy of India was brought by the British in 1894, in which special attention was paid to the conservation and promotion of forests.

The problem of India before independence was that India was divided into various states and princely states and the forest area used to come under these states and kings, so there was no solid forest policy in India before independence.

Forest Research Institute

The first step for research on forests was done in 1906 by establishing the Forest Research Institute. In 1906, the Forest Research Institute was established in Dehradun, whose main objective was to conduct research on the types, species, trees, plants, shrubs, grasses, etc. of forests in India.

Forest Survey of India

The Forest Survey of India was established in 1981 under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, whose main objective was to conduct forest surveys and assess forest resources. The Forest Survey of India was established in 1981 under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, whose main objective was to conduct forest surveys and assess forest resources.

The forest policy of India,1952

After independence, the Government of India brought India’s first independent forest policy in 1952 for the conservation and promotion of forests, in which forests in India were categorized into four types, which are as Conserved, National, Rural And Tree land.

This policy emphasized the following point

• 1/3 of the total area of ​​India should be forest area.
• In the mountainous region, 60% of the total area should be a forest.
• A total of 40% area in the plateau area should be forest area.
• A total of 20% of the plain area should be for forests.
• Special emphasis was laid on controlling jhoom cultivation as it was causing widespread damage to both ecology and the environment.
• In this policy, emphasis was also laid on conducting research on species of trees, shrubs, and grasses that are becoming extinct widely and on exploring new species.

Social Forestry Policy

This policy was started in 1976 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, it is part of a forest policy that was helpful in increasing the forest cover area in India.

Its three main components were prepared

1- Farm Forestry
In this, the farmer was encouraged to plant different types of trees on the edge of the field, which was completely owned by the farmer, but this increased the forest area.

2- Community Forestry

In this, the people of the village together plant trees on the land of the Gram Panchayat, which is completely owned by the villagers and this increases the area of the forest area.


3- Public Woodlot Forestry
In this, trees are planted by the forest department in public places like canal banks, roadsides, railway tracks, etc.

Ecological stability means that all forest trees, plants, and animals should be related to the terrestrial, hydrosphere, and air sphere . The purpose of increasing the forest area by planting trees was to strengthen all the components of ecology

National forest policy, 1988

Objective
1-Ecological stability

Ecological stability means that all forest trees, plants, and animals should be related to the terrestrial, hydrosphere, and air sphere . The purpose of increasing the forest area by planting trees was to strengthen all the components of ecology,

Thus establishing a strong relationship between biotic and abiotic components was an important objective of this forest policy.

2- Soil Erosion Control

Due to being an agricultural country, India’s dependence on the quality of its soil increases, the soil is a major resource of India, whose erosion is caused by various means such as water, soil, etc.
Plantation reduces soil erosion, due to which the quality and productivity of the soil remain the same.

3- Conservation of plant and shrubs species

Apart from plants, this forest policy also emphasized the conservation of shrubs , as many species of shrubs were disappearing.

4- Social forestry

Above, we have discussed the three components of social forest in detail. In the National Forest Policy 1988, special emphasis was also given to this and to promote social forest, free saplings were distributed to the farmers so that the farmers could take active participation in the plantation.

5- Forest Productivity

Various types of forest products were commercialized like timber, fruits , flowers, seeds, spices, etc so that the farmer can arrange for his livelihood by planting forests.

6- Control sand dune expansion

In the states located in the North-West of India, the impact of sand on the dune is maximum, the farmers of Rajasthan, Haryana, and, Punjab are most affected by it.
Farmers were encouraged to plant trees to prevent sand dunes which are formed due to the blowing of sand particles through the wind, which affects the fertility of the land significantly.

India State of Forest Report

It is published by the Forest Survey of India and its first edition was published in 1987. It is published once every two years, its latest report was published in 2021, which was its 17th edition, and18th the edition will be published in 2023.

25 questions related to this are given in the table below:

S.N	Questions	Answer
1.	“Forest Survey of India” was established in which year?	1981
2.	Where is the headquarters of the Forest Survey of India?	Dehradun
3.	When was the National Environmental Engineering research institute established?	8 April 1958
4.	Where is the headquarters of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute?	Nagpur
5.	Forest Survey of India is under which ministry?	Ministry of Environment forest and climate change
6.	National Environmental Engineering Research Institute is under which ministry?	Ministry of Science and Technology
7.	According to the National Forest Policy, what percentage of the country’s area should be forest area?	33.33%
8.	When was the new forest policy of India announced?	1988
9.	When is Van Mahotsav celebrated?	The first week of July
10.	Who publishes the India State of Forest Report?	Forest Survey of India
11.	When was the India State of Forest Report published last time?	2021
12.	Which edition of the India State of Forest Report was published in 2021?	17th
13.	When was the India State of Forest Report published for the first time?	1987
14.	According to the India State of Forest Report 2021, which state of India has the highest area-wise forest cover?	i) Madhya Pradesh ii) Arunachal Pradesh iii)Chhattisgarh
15.	According to the India State of Forest Report 2021, which state has the least total forest area in India?	Haryana
16.	According to the India State of Forest Report 2021, which state in India has the highest forest percentage?	Mizoram
17.	According to the India State of Forest Report 2021, which state has seen the maximum increase in forest area?	Andhra Pradesh
18.	According to the India State of Forest Report 2021, what percentage of the total geographical area of ​​India is forest area?	24.62%
19.	When was the first forest policy of independent India launched?	1952
20.	To whom does the credit for starting the Van Mahotsav go?	K.M Munshi
21.	How much forest area and tree cover has increased in India as compared to 2019?	2261km2
22.	How many states or union territories of India have a forest cover of 33% or more?	17
23.	How many states or union territories of India have a forest cover of 75% or more?	5
24.	How much (km2)  is mangrove forest in India and how much has it increased or decreased as compared to 2019?	4992 km2   17 km2 Increase
25.	What is the total carbon stock in the forests of India?	7402 million tonnes

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