Examine the status of forest resources of India and its resultant impact on climate change. (250 words, 15 marks)

India’s forests range from evergreen and mangrove systems to dry deciduous, thorn and Himalayan forests. Their condition reflects conservation gains alongside continuing fragmentation and degradation.

• Forest and tree cover has shown an overall increase in official assessments, partly due to plantations and trees outside forests.
• Natural forests, however, face fragmentation, degradation, fires, invasive species, mining, infrastructure expansion and encroachment.
• Dense forests remain important in the Western Ghats, central Indian tribal belt, Northeast and Himalayas, but quality and connectivity vary.
• Mangroves and wetlands provide coastal protection, while community forests support fuel, fodder, food and non-timber livelihoods.
• Protected areas have expanded, yet human-wildlife conflict and pressures on corridors persist.

• Deforestation releases carbon stored in biomass and soils, reducing India’s carbon sink and complicating mitigation targets.
• Forest loss alters evapotranspiration, rainfall recycling, local temperature and watershed regulation.
• Degraded forests increase erosion, floods, drought vulnerability and landslide risk, while fires emit greenhouse gases and aerosols.
• Climate change itself intensifies heat stress, drought, pests, fires, species shifts and Himalayan forest vulnerability.
• Loss of mangroves reduces protection against cyclones and sea-level rise.

Policy should prioritise restoration of native ecosystems, landscape corridors, assisted natural regeneration, fire management and community-led governance under the Forest Rights framework. Carbon accounting must distinguish natural forests from monoculture plantations. Biodiversity, livelihood security and climate adaptation should guide compensatory afforestation and development decisions.

forest cover, natural forests, carbon sink, fragmentation, mangroves, afforestation, forest fires, community forestry.