The relationship between humans and forests dates back to the time when the ‘Homo sapiens’ race eked out his living from the confines of a cave , thus adding the moniker – ‘Cave man’ to his very being. The interdependency of the then ‘Homo sapiens’ on the forests and vice versa has not changed much through the millenniums, save for a little semantics that don’t count much irrespective of the ever changing climate which we all are very much aware of. The FAO ( Food and agricultural organization) of the UN defines a forest as—‘ Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent , or trees able to reach these thresholds in this situation. It does not include land that is primarily under agricultural or urban use.
By using this definition of theFAO/UN ‘Global forest resources assessment report’ of 2020 has concluded that the total forest cover comes to about 4.06 million hectares or 10 million acres of land which sumps up to 31 percent of the total land on the earth’s surface .And this was about 5 years ago. According to the UN , forests are home to about 80 percent of terrestrial bio-diversity across the world, with more than 60,000 species. Approximately 1.6 billion people depend directly on forests for food, shelter, energy , medicine, and income. The figure stated above surpasses the total population of India (the most populated country) by 0.2 billion underscoring the impact forests have on the sheer livelihood of humans inhabiting this world.
The month of March with date as twenty first is observed as ‘International day of forests’ or ‘World forest day’worldwide to increase awareness about the importance of the forests, woodlands, and trees in our lives.It is important to understand the value, significance, and contributions of the forests to balancing the life cycle on earth. An issue like ‘Deforestation’ is also addressed on this day. It has now become a ‘given thing’ for the last few decades to associate all major events impacting our lives in the world with some or the other ‘catch phrase’ that sounds not only pleasing to both the eyes and ears but also is the prime driving force for achieving that catchy phrase in all its entirety.
This year of 2025 is no different from its predecessors , when the life force of our existence( read forests) is associated with an equally dynamic statement which encompasses our very being on this planet —‘ Forest & food’. A very simple but yet very difficult concept to emulate in our lives. In today’s world of ours which is being torn asunder under the unceasing negative forces of human avarice and plunder, can the forests which have been for millenniums the saviors of human beings existence be spared for a better future and tomorrow? I don’t think so, if the rate with which they are being destroyed all over this planet of ours; soon time may come when we may have to tell the future progenies of human race the importance of the green cover only by our word of mouth with no sign of these forests on ground. That would be the last nail in the coffin of these forests which we humans would have driven willy-nilly.
The UNGA ( UN General assembly) way back in 2012 designated March 21st as the ‘International Day of Forests’ ostensibly for the reasons as stated by me above in this write up of mine. Since then, millions of people around the world have used it as an opportunity to celebrate all types of forests, recognize the importance of trees and forests as also to take action to protect them.
This year’s abiding theme( Forest & food) for celebrating IDF (International day of forest) as written by me earlier has been undertaken by FAO (Food and agricultural organistion) of the UNO to mark its 80th ( eightieth) year of inception as also to coincide with the above celebrations of the IDF that happens to fall on 21st March. The current year of 2025, as stated by me above having been designated as ‘Forests & food’ by the UN celebrates the crucial role that forests provide in sustaining food security, nutrition, and livelihoods across the world.
In addition to providing for food, fuel, income and employment, forests support soil fertility, protect water resources, and offer habitats for bio diversity including vital pollinators. They are essential for the survival of forest dependent communities, particularly indigenous people and contribute to climate change mitigation by storing carbon. Since India is a microcosm of a variety of forests which the world abounds with, as also being home to approximately 110 million tribal population constituting more than 9% of total population of the country who are directly dependent upon these forests; I in my wisdom have taken our country as a template to interpolate the IDF’s guiding theme.
Is it any less wonder that the country’s planners should sit upright and take notice of this year’s abiding UN/ FAO theme concerning the IDF( International day of forest) that impacts directly the livelihood of more than 11 crore population of the sub-continent? India like no other country of the world has a rich and wide relationship with forests that not only spans a major chunk of its population, but also permeates its religious thought and philosophy going back to more than a millennia.
A cursory glance of the state of forests worldwide throws interesting data for us to mull andact upon too. The latest state of forests worldwide say that approximately 31% of the land area i.e. 4.06 billion hectares of the planet are under the green cover, but are facing threats like deforestation & degradation , particularly in the tropical regions like India leading to biodiversity loss and climate change impacts.More than half of the world’s forests are found in just five countries viz Russia, Brazil, Canada, USA and China, but then maximum deforestation and degradation to the forests are taking place as stated by me above is in tropical countries to include India.
As per the FAOreport a net loss of 99 million hectares of forests occurred in the world between 2000 and 2023, with countries on both sides of the equator equally guilty. FAO further states that an unplanned infra, a burgeoning population explosion, with the need to survive on forest produce by the native /indigenous population are the prime sources of plunder of forest cover the world over. In a typical case the world famous Amazon region lost around 17% of its forest cover in the last 50 years, primarily due to forest conversion for cattle ranching. ‘Forest fires’ are another major source of destruction of the green cover mainly due to anthropogenic reasons.
Closer home in the vastness of Himalayan forests, ranging from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh human usage and plunder have lit the match for the demise of these splendid creation of nature to no end. In the year 2023, nearly 12 million hectares were reduced to ashes primarily due to these forest fires. In our country too the two most guilty states for these forest fires are Jammu & Kashmir and Uttrakhand who year on year have been on top of the rung states to devour these magnificent forests.
Though India does have a rich history of saving these forests dating back to the 1970s , when the redoubtable ‘Sunder Lal Bhauguna’ led his campaign of ‘Chipko movement’ from the hills of Garhwal, I suppose those people and times were different breed altogether, compared to the present lot of masses who are consumed by an insatiable greed to make the most of these natural bounties and fill their coffers with ill-gotten intention / motive. As per the latest ‘India state forest report’ (ISFR) of 2023, released by the ‘Forest survey of India’, the country’s total forest and tree cover has increased to 25.17% of the nation’s total geographical area, with 21.76% under forest cover and 3.41% under tree cover. But are we as a nation satisfied enough with these figures or can something else be done to catalyze this figure to a yet higher degree of forest acreage throughout the length & breadth of India?
It is no brainer that the increase in the forest cover has been substantial, but then here comes the unambiguous fact that despite the rise in forest cover in India as well as the world over , the actual sentinels of these forests i.e the forest guards, rangers and even civil activists who are at the forefront of saving this forest wealth from the rapacious deeds as mentioned by the UN/ FAO are often viewed as a miniscule dot in the overall radar of reckoning of the forest department and bereft of most of the welfare schemes affecting their overall wellbeing.
It would be a great surprise for the readers of this article to know that this year’s UN theme of ‘Forest & Food’ was emulated by Indians in their ‘Chipko movement’ long back in the 1970s with the “5Fs” ( food, fuel, fiber , fodder and fertilizers) ruling the roost. As on last year India reigned number one and accounted for nearly 31% i.e 162 deaths out of recorded 526 ranger deaths all over the world. Besides being the highest globally , this is just one less than the sum total deaths of the next 5 countries on the list—Congo, Thailand, Kenya , USA and south Africa. Front line forest staff in India as well as in numerous other countries having a preponderance of forest cover is increasingly targeted by poachers, illegal miners, timber smugglers, and encroachers while protecting forests, wild life , rivers, wetlands, and other natural resources and ecosystems.
As per Sean Wilmore, president, ‘International ranger federation’ and founding director of the ‘Thin green line’ India has the highest ranger deaths in the world. Similar is the situation in many other countries having forest wealth as one of its mainstay. With these figures plaguing the minds of the policy planners across the world, doesn’t the ringing of IDF /International day of forests by the world body of UN sound clichéd? Rather the fact that the forest cover has been growing exponentially year after year across the world is no consolation that all is honky dory with the green cover. It rather shows that the forest protectors despite putting their lives on the firing line are still maintaining their work –life balance in an excellent condition and not letting their skewed work conditions come acrossagainst their primary task of being the protectors of green cover. Wildlife crimes are ranked alongside trafficking in arms & drugs in terms of profits and fetch between $ 8 to 10 billion annually as per the UN office on drugs and crime.
As per ‘RFA’/Rangers foundation Asia and the WWF( World wild life foundation) both NGOs, anthropogenic activities such as grazing, wood cutting, and collection of forest produce which can lead to confrontation with criminal elements engaged in commercial extraction are the prime source of forest destruction. Has the UN body come to terms with the total eradication of these menaces afflicting the forest cover in close cohort with the nation-states? If yes, can the UN body come out with the details of their mitigating factors which were put into motion to stop these menaces as mentioned above so as to justify their ringing aloud of celebrations on the IDF?
Till the time the above mentioned road blocks are removed from the wayside of forest conservation, all these celebrations will remain fringe activities and the IDF a big misnomer. Though this year IDF celebrations have a much sacred theme to follow with attendant sub-themes like –Forests a provider of jobs, forests protector against extreme weather, home to millions of tribal/ indigenous population, a natural air conditioner, improving mental health, mitigating climate change and so on, the proof of pudding is in eating –viz following the dictates as mandated by changing times and requirements of human beings. It is not for nothing that Mahatma Gandhi said decades ago—‘What we are doing to forests of the world, is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves’.
(The writer is a retired army officer and a regular scribe of Rising Kashmir paper. He can be contacted on his email…[email protected])
