What is India’s definition of forests? Sunita Narain in conversation with MD Madhusudan

India’s State of Forest Report 2021 was released by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on January 13, 2022. It states that India’s forest cover has increased.

But an in-depth analysis done by Sunita Narain, director-general of the Centre for Science and Environment, has found that India cannot account for 26 million hectares of forest or close to 34 per cent of India’s total 77.53 million hectares of recorded forest.

On the other hand, forest expert MD Madhusudan has questioned the methodology of how forests are accounted for. In India, any patch of land which is one hectare in size and contains a tree cover of 10 per cent is considered a forest.

Through this definition, even plantations like tea gardens and coconut groves can be called forests. In this freewheeling conversation, Sunita Narain and M D Madhusudan discuss and deliberate how forests should be counted in India.