Growing significance of trees beyond forests

REES are one of the most efficient and cost-effective carbon sinks, considered a 'silver bullet' solution to climate mitigation. They also provide numerous goods, foods, and services, including habitat and sustenance for a vast array of living creatures.

- MOHAN CHANDRA PARGAIEN FORMER IFS OFFICER & ADVISOR, SCCL TELANGANA

Plagued with increasing environmental challenges, including climate change, India too is witnessing a growing trend of increased environmental awareness and concern to make the planet earth healthier and sustainable. This is also translating into various proactive actions, among which the tree planting is one of the most favoured ones. India has pledged to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5–3 billion tonnes of CO₂ by increasing its forest and tree cover and restore 26 million hectare (ha) of degraded land by 2030 under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Bonn Challenge, respectively.

Trees Outside Forests (TOF) refer to trees growing outside notified forest areas, including small forests, plantations, and scattered trees along roads, parks, homesteads and agricultural lands on private, community or government lands. This category also encompasses tree patches less than 1 ha in size outside recorded forest areas, known as tree cover.

According to India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023, the country's forest and tree cover increased by 1,445 sq km since 2021, of which the increase in forest cover was only 156.4 sq km, having a gain of 149 sq km occurring outside the Recorded Forest. Notably, tree cover growth (1,290 sq km) accounted for 89 per cent of this gain, significantly contributing to the country's green growth. Without this increase in tree cover, the overall growth in forest and tree cover would have been much lower and this is also an indicator of a paradigm shift that forests are no longer confined to wilderness zones but are spreading across urban and rural landscapes alike.