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Forest cover and forest conservation

मराठीत स्पष्टीकरण

Soils and natural vegetation of India · Part 4 / 4 · Fact-checked on · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

The Forest Survey of India and how it measures forest cover, tree cover and recorded forest area; the India State of Forest Report 2023; the National Forest Policy 1988, the 42nd Amendment, Articles 48A and 51A(g) and the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 with its 2023 amendment; social forestry, Joint Forest Management, Chipko and Appiko; the Green India Mission and forests as a carbon sink.

Each idea is explained first in Marathi (मराठी), ending with the English and Hindi exam terms, followed by the same point in exam English. UPSC Prelims is in English or Hindi, so understand it in Marathi and revise it in English.

भाग 3 मध्ये फक्त निसर्गाने ठरवले असते तर असती ती वने पाहिली. आता त्यातली खरोखर किती उरली, कोण मोजते, रक्षणासाठी काय केले ते पाहू. तीन बाजूंनी उत्तर: विज्ञान आकडे देते (भारतीय वन सर्वेक्षण उपग्रहांद्वारे दर दोन वर्षांनी मोजते); कायदा आणि धोरण नियम घालतात; लोक ऊर्जा देतात. घरातल्या धान्याच्या डब्यात किती आहे ते पाहून, खर्चाला नियम घालून, सगळ्यांनी मिळून काटकसर करावी तसे. (→ English: forest cover; forest policy; people's participation · हिन्दी: वन आवरण; वन नीति; जन भागीदारी)

In exam EnglishPart 3 described the forests India would have if nature alone decided. This last part asks how much of that cover survives, who measures it and how it is protected. Science supplies the numbers: the Forest Survey of India maps forests from satellites every two years. Law and policy set the rules on who may cut or divert forest land. People supply the energy: movements such as Chipko, and programmes that share forest management with villages, showed that forests last longer when local people have a stake in them.

भारतीय वन सर्वेक्षण (FSI) 1981 मध्ये देहरादून मुख्यालयासह स्थापन झाले; 1987 पासून दर दोन वर्षांनी 'भारत वन स्थिती अहवाल' प्रसिद्ध करते, उपग्रह चित्रे प्रत्यक्ष जमिनीवरील तपासणीशी जुळवते. वनाच्छादन म्हणजे एक हेक्टर किंवा अधिक जमिनीवर झाडांची छत्री 10 टक्क्यांपेक्षा जास्त असणे, जमीन कोणाचीही असो. भर दुपारी झाडाखाली जितक्या जमिनीवर सावली पडते तीच छत्र घनता. तीन वर्ग: 70% वर अतिघनदाट, 40-70% मध्यम घनदाट, 10-40% विरळ वन. 10% पेक्षा कमी असलेली झुडपे मोजत नाहीत. हेक्टरभर आंब्याची बागही मोजली जाते. (→ English: Forest Survey of India; India State of Forest Report; forest cover; canopy density · हिन्दी: भारतीय वन सर्वेक्षण; भारत वन स्थिति रिपोर्ट; वन आवरण; वितान घनत्व)

In exam EnglishThe Forest Survey of India (FSI), set up in 1981 with its headquarters at Dehradun under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, is the national body that measures India's forests. Since 1987 it has published the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) every two years, using Indian remote-sensing satellite images checked against field plots. Its key measure is forest cover: every patch of a hectare or more where tree crowns shade over 10 per cent of the ground, whoever owns it. Canopy density means the share of the ground shaded by tree crowns when seen from above. The FSI divides forest cover into three classes: very dense forest (70 per cent canopy or more), moderately dense forest (40 to 70 per cent) and open forest (10 to 40 per cent). Scrub, degraded land with canopy below 10 per cent, is mapped but not counted as forest cover. Because the definition looks only at trees, orchards, bamboo groves and plantations of one hectare or more are counted too.

वनाच्छादनाशी गोंधळ होणारे दोन शब्द. वृक्षाच्छादन: नोंदणीकृत वनांबाहेर हेक्टरपेक्षा लहान तुकड्यांतील झाडे, गावची राई, रस्त्याकडेच्या रांगा, बांधावरची, शहरातली झाडे. नोंदणीकृत वनक्षेत्र: सरकारी नोंदीत वन म्हणून लिहिलेली जमीन (1927 च्या कायद्याखालील राखीव, संरक्षित, अवर्गीकृत वने). ही जुळत नाहीत: नोंदीत वन असूनही झाडे नसलेली जमीन असते; नोंद नसलेल्या ठिकाणी जंगल असते. रेशनकार्डावर नाव आहे पण गावात नाही, गावात आहे पण कार्डावर नाही, तसे. (→ English: tree cover; recorded forest area · हिन्दी: वृक्ष आवरण; अभिलिखित वन क्षेत्र)

In exam EnglishTwo other terms are often confused with forest cover. tree cover counts the trees that grow outside recorded forests in patches smaller than one hectare: village groves, roadside lines, trees on farm boundaries and in towns. These are too small to appear as forest cover but add up to a large area. recorded forest area is a legal, not a satellite, measure: all land recorded as forest in government records, mainly reserved and protected forests under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and unclassed forests. The two do not match. Some recorded forest land has lost its trees and appears as scrub or blank on the satellite map, while much forest cover lies outside recorded forest, for example in community forests of the north-east, private woodlots and plantations.
How the Forest Survey of India measures forests
Measure or classWhat it meansCounted as forest cover?
Very dense forestCanopy density 70% or more, area 1 ha or moreYes
Moderately dense forestCanopy density 40% to 70%Yes
Open forestCanopy density 10% to 40%Yes
ScrubDegraded land, canopy below 10%No
Tree coverTree patches outside recorded forest, smaller than 1 haNo (reported separately)
Recorded forest areaLand recorded as forest in government records, with or without treesLegal measure, not satellite-based

ताजा अहवाल ISFR 2023 (डिसेंबर 2024 मध्ये प्रसिद्ध, 18 वा) नुसार वनाच्छादन सुमारे 7,15,343 चौ.किमी. (देशाच्या भौगोलिक क्षेत्राच्या 21.76%), वृक्षाच्छादन सुमारे 1,12,014 चौ.किमी. (3.41%). दोन्ही मिळून 25.17%, 2021 पेक्षा सुमारे 1,445 चौ.किमी. वाढ, बहुतेक वनांबाहेरच्या झाडांमुळे. क्षेत्रफळात मध्य प्रदेश पहिला, नंतर अरुणाचल, छत्तीसगड. स्वतःच्या क्षेत्राच्या टक्केवारीत राज्यांत मिझोराम, केंद्रशासित प्रदेशांत लक्षद्वीप पुढे. आपल्याकडे एक-चतुर्थांश आहे, लक्ष्य एक-तृतीयांश; परीक्षेत 100 पैकी 25 मिळाले आणि 33 हवे असल्यासारखे. (→ English: India State of Forest Report 2023; forest cover; tree cover · हिन्दी: भारत वन स्थिति रिपोर्ट 2023; वन आवरण; वृक्ष आवरण)

In exam EnglishThe latest report, ISFR 2023, released in December 2024, is the eighteenth in the series. It put India's forest cover at about 7,15,343 sq km, or 21.76 per cent of the country's geographical area, and tree cover at about 1,12,014 sq km, or 3.41 per cent. Together, forest and tree cover came to about 8,27,357 sq km, or 25.17 per cent of India, an increase of about 1,445 sq km over ISFR 2021, most of it from tree cover outside forests. By area, Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover, followed by Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. By share of its own area, Mizoram leads among the states and Lakshadweep among the Union Territories, and the north-eastern states as a group are heavily forested. Forest and tree cover together thus stand at about a quarter of India, against the one-third target of national forest policy.

ISFR 2023 मध्ये आणखी दोन आकडे: खारफुटी क्षेत्र सुमारे 4,992 चौ.किमी. (देशात सुमारे 0.15%); सर्वाधिक वाटा पश्चिम बंगाल (सुंदरबन), नंतर गुजरात, अंदमान-निकोबार. वनांतील झाडे, वाळलेले लाकूड, पालापाचोळा आणि मातीत साठलेला कार्बन सुमारे 7,285.5 दशलक्ष टन, 2021 पेक्षा सुमारे 81.5 दशलक्ष टन जास्त; बहुतेक मातीतच. वाढणारे वन म्हणजे कार्बन सिंक: हवेतला कार्बन डायऑक्साइड शोषून साठवते, बँकेत पैसे जमा करावे तसे. (→ English: mangrove cover; carbon stock; carbon sink · हिन्दी: मैंग्रोव आवरण; कार्बन भंडार; कार्बन सिंक)

In exam EnglishISFR 2023 also reports two figures UPSC likes to test. mangrove cover was about 4,992 sq km, roughly 0.15 per cent of India's area. West Bengal holds the largest share, mainly in the Sundarbans, followed by Gujarat and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The report also estimates the carbon held in India's forests, in trees, dead wood, litter and soil, at about 7,285.5 million tonnes, some 81.5 million tonnes more than in the 2021 assessment. Most of this carbon is in the soil rather than in the trees above it. This measure links forests to climate policy: a growing forest is a carbon sink, drawing carbon dioxide out of the air and storing it.
India State of Forest Report 2023 at a glance
ItemISFR 2023 figure
Forest coverAbout 7,15,343 sq km (21.76% of geographical area)
Tree coverAbout 1,12,014 sq km (3.41%)
Forest and tree coverAbout 8,27,357 sq km (25.17%); up about 1,445 sq km since 2021
Largest forest cover by areaMadhya Pradesh, then Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
Mangrove coverAbout 4,992 sq km; West Bengal has the largest share
Forest carbon stockAbout 7,285.5 million tonnes; up about 81.5 million tonnes since 2021

वन धोरण आपला दृष्टिकोन कसा बदलला ते दाखवते. 1894 (वसाहती) आणि 1952 ची धोरणे वनाला उत्पन्नाचे साधन, उद्योग-रेल्वेसाठी कच्चा माल मानत. 1988 च्या राष्ट्रीय वन धोरणाने हे उलटवले: मुख्य उद्देश पर्यावरणीय समतोल, उत्पन्न दुय्यम. देशाच्या एक-तृतीयांश भागावर वन किंवा झाडे, डोंगराळ भागात दोन-तृतीयांश हे लक्ष्य. आदिवासींच्या सरपण, चाऱ्याच्या गरजांना पहिला हक्क; लोकसहभाग हवा. आधी लाकडाचे गोदाम, आता गावची सामायिक विहीर असल्यासारखे. (→ English: National Forest Policy 1988 · हिन्दी: राष्ट्रीय वन नीति 1988)

In exam EnglishForest policy shows how India's view of forests has changed. The colonial policy of 1894 and the first post-independence policy of 1952 treated forests mainly as a source of revenue and of raw material for industry and railways. The National Forest Policy of 1988 reversed the priority. Its main aim is environmental stability and ecological balance, and it says that earning revenue must be secondary. It sets a national goal of having one-third of India's geographical area under forest or tree cover, and two-thirds in the hills and mountains, where forests prevent erosion and protect water sources. It also says that the needs of tribal and other forest-dwelling people for fuelwood, fodder and small timber should be the first charge on forest produce, and it calls for people's participation in protecting forests.

वनांना भक्कम पाया देण्यासाठी संविधानात बदल झाला. मूळात 'वने' राज्य सूचीत होती. 1976 च्या 42 व्या घटनादुरुस्ती ने 'वने' आणि 'वन्य प्राणी व पक्ष्यांचे संरक्षण' समवर्ती सूची त (17A, 17B) हलवले; आता संसदही कायदा करू शकते, विरोध आल्यास केंद्रीय कायदा चालतो. राज्य धोरणाची मार्गदर्शक तत्त्वे यांत कलम 48A: राज्य पर्यावरण, वने आणि वन्यजीव यांचे रक्षण करण्याचा प्रयत्न करेल. मूलभूत कर्तव्ये यांत 51A(g): प्रत्येक नागरिकाने वन, तलाव, नदी, वन्यजीव यांचे रक्षण करावे आणि प्राणिमात्रांवर दया ठेवावी. (→ English: 42nd Amendment; Concurrent List; Article 48A; Article 51A(g) · हिन्दी: 42वाँ संशोधन; समवर्ती सूची; अनुच्छेद 48क; अनुच्छेद 51क(छ))

In exam EnglishThe Constitution was amended to give forests a firmer footing. Originally 'forests' was a subject in the State List. The 42nd Amendment of 1976 moved 'forests' and 'protection of wild animals and birds' to the Concurrent List, as entries 17A and 17B, so that Parliament as well as the state legislatures can make laws on them, and a central law prevails in case of conflict. The same amendment added two provisions. Article 48A, among the Directive Principles of State Policy, asks the State to try to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the country's forests and wildlife. Article 51A(g), among the Fundamental Duties, makes it the duty of every citizen 'to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures'.

वनजमिनीचे रक्षण करणारा मुख्य कायदा वन (संवर्धन) अधिनियम, 1980. राज्ये शेती, धरणे, खाणींसाठी वने देत होती म्हणून तो आणला. कलम 2: राखीव वन रद्द करणे, वनजमीन दुसऱ्या कामासाठी वापरणे, खासगी संस्थेला भाड्याने देणे यासाठी केंद्राची पूर्वपरवानगी हवी. गेलेल्या वनाऐवजी दुसरीकडे झाडे लावावी लागतात (भरपाई वनीकरण निधी अधिनियम, 2016). गोदावर्मन खटल्यात (1996) सर्वोच्च न्यायालय: 'वन' म्हणजे शब्दकोशातील अर्थ, जमीन कोणाचीही असो. 2023 च्या दुरुस्तीने नाव 'वन (संरक्षण एवं संवर्धन) अधिनियम' केले, नोंदीतील वनापुरते मर्यादित केले, सीमेपासून 100 किमीच्या आत रणनीतिक प्रकल्पांना सूट दिली. गावचे तळे बुजवायला ग्रामसभेची परवानगी लागते, तसे. (→ English: Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; compensatory afforestation; Godavarman case (1996); 2023 amendment · हिन्दी: वन (संरक्षण) अधिनियम, 1980; प्रतिपूरक वनीकरण; गोदावर्मन मामला (1996); 2023 का संशोधन)

In exam EnglishThe main law that guards forest land is the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. It was passed because states were releasing large areas of forest for farming, dams, mines and industry. Under Section 2, a state government needs the prior approval of the Central Government before it dereserves a reserved forest, uses forest land for any non-forest purpose, leases it to a private body, or clears naturally grown trees in order to plant others. Diverted land must usually be made good by compensatory afforestation, whose funds are managed under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016. In T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India (order of 1996), the Supreme Court held that 'forest' in the Act must be read in its dictionary sense, covering every area recorded as forest in government records and any land that is forest in fact, whoever owns it. The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023 renamed the law the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, limited it mainly to land notified or recorded as forest, and exempted some categories, for instance, linear projects of strategic and national-security importance up to 100 km from the international borders.

फक्त कायद्यांनी वनऱ्हास थांबला नाही, कारण कोट्यवधी लोक सरपण, चारा, उत्पन्नासाठी वनांवर अवलंबून आहेत. सामाजिक वनीकरण (1976 मध्ये राष्ट्रीय कृषी आयोगाने लोकप्रिय केलेला शब्द): गावची सामायिक जमीन, रस्ते, कालवे, रेल्वेमार्गांच्या कडेला, बांधावर, शहरांत झाडे लावणे. शेतात पिकांसोबत झाडे लावणे म्हणजे कृषिवानिकी; 2014 मध्ये राष्ट्रीय धोरण. संयुक्त वन व्यवस्थापन: बंगालमधील आराबाडी प्रयोगाच्या प्रेरणेने 1 जून 1990 रोजी केंद्राने मार्गदर्शक सूचना दिल्या; ग्राम समित्या ऱ्हास झालेल्या वनाचे रक्षण करून उत्पन्नात वाटा घेतात. शेत राखणाऱ्याला पगाराऐवजी पिकात वाटा द्यावा तसे. (→ English: social forestry; agroforestry; Joint Forest Management · हिन्दी: सामाजिक वानिकी; कृषिवानिकी; संयुक्त वन प्रबंधन)

In exam EnglishLaws alone could not stop forest loss, because millions of people depend on forests for fuel, fodder and income. Two ideas tried to turn them from users into partners. social forestry, a term made popular by the National Commission on Agriculture in 1976, means growing trees outside forests, on village common land, along roads, canals and railway lines, on farm boundaries and in towns, so that local needs are met without cutting natural forest. Agroforestry, the growing of trees together with crops or livestock on the same farm, follows the same logic, and India adopted a National Agroforestry Policy in 2014. The second idea was Joint Forest Management (JFM). Inspired by an experiment at Arabari in West Bengal in the early 1970s, the Centre issued guidelines on 1 June 1990 asking states to involve village committees in protecting degraded forests, in return for a share of the produce.

दोन लोकचळवळी प्रसिद्ध आहेत. चिपको आंदोलन 1973 मध्ये गढवाल हिमालयातील चमोली जिल्ह्यात (आताचे उत्तराखंड) सुरू झाले: चंडीप्रसाद भट्ट यांच्या नेतृत्वाखाली दशोली ग्राम स्वराज्य संघाने मंडल गावाजवळ ठेकेदारांची वृक्षतोड रोखली. 1974 मध्ये रेणी येथे गौरा देवींच्या नेतृत्वाखाली स्त्रियांनी झाडांना मिठी मारून ती वाचवली; 'चिपको' म्हणजे चिकटणे. सुंदरलाल बहुगुणांनी संदेश पसरवला. 1983 मध्ये कर्नाटकच्या उत्तर कन्नडमध्ये सलकानीच्या गावकऱ्यांनी पांडुरंग हेगडे यांच्या प्रेरणेने अप्पिको आंदोलन केले; कन्नडमध्ये 'अप्पिको' म्हणजे मिठी मार. आई बाळाला कवटाळून वाचवते तसे. (→ English: Chipko movement (1973); Appiko movement (1983) · हिन्दी: चिपको आंदोलन (1973); अप्पिको आंदोलन (1983))

In exam EnglishTwo people's movements are the most famous chapters in this story. The Chipko movement began in 1973 in the Chamoli district of the Garhwal Himalaya, now in Uttarakhand, when villagers organised by the Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh under Chandi Prasad Bhatt stopped contractors from felling trees near Mandal village. Its best-known moment came in 1974 at Reni, where Gaura Devi and other women clasped the trees to stop the felling; 'chipko' means 'to cling'. Sunderlal Bahuguna carried its message across the Himalaya, and the movement pressed the government to restrict commercial felling in the hill forests. In 1983 the same idea moved south as the Appiko movement in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, where villagers of Salkani, inspired by Panduranga Hegde, hugged trees in the Western Ghats to stop felling; 'appiko' is the Kannada word for 'to hug'.

हे सगळे का? वने उतारावरची माती धरून ठेवतात, झरे-नद्यांना पाणी देतात, पूर कमी करतात, वन्यजीवांना घर, लोकांना सरपण, चारा, अन्न, औषधे, उत्पन्न देतात. हवामान धोरणातही महत्त्वाची: पॅरिस करारानुसार 2030 पर्यंत अतिरिक्त 2.5-3 अब्ज टन कार्बन सिंक निर्माण करण्याचे भारताचे वचन; 2005 च्या तुलनेत सुमारे 2.29 अब्ज टन आधीच जमा झाल्याचे ISFR 2023 सांगतो. हरित भारत मिशन (2008 च्या राष्ट्रीय कृती आराखड्यातील 8 मिशनपैकी एक): 50 लाख हेक्टरवर वन वाढवणे, आणखी 50 लाख हेक्टरवर गुणवत्ता सुधारणे, ग्रामसभांच्या सहभागाने. (→ English: carbon sink; India's NDC; Green India Mission · हिन्दी: कार्बन सिंक; भारत का एनडीसी; हरित भारत मिशन)

In exam EnglishWhy does all this effort matter? Forests hold soil on slopes, feed springs and rivers, moderate floods, shelter most of India's wildlife and supply fuel, fodder, food, medicine and income to the people who live in and around them. They have also become central to climate policy. In its climate pledge under the Paris Agreement, India promised to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030 through more forest and tree cover. ISFR 2023 estimated that, compared with the 2005 baseline, India had already added a sink of about 2.29 billion tonnes. The National Mission for a Green India, one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change of 2008, works towards this goal: it aims to increase forest and tree cover on 5 million hectares and to improve the quality of forest on another 5 million hectares, with local communities and Gram Sabhas involved in planning and protection.

या भागाने प्रकरण पूर्ण होते. चारही भाग एकच साखळी: खडक आणि हवामान माती बनवतात; माती आणि पाऊस नैसर्गिक वनस्पती ठरवतात; माणसे किती उरेल ते ठरवतात. मोजण्यासाठी उपग्रहाधारित वनाच्छादन, वृक्षाच्छादन, नोंदणीकृत वनक्षेत्र वेगवेगळे; ISFR 2023 नुसार देशाचा एक-चतुर्थांश, लक्ष्य एक-तृतीयांश. रक्षणासाठी समवर्ती सूची, 48A, 51A(g), 1980 चा कायदा (2023 दुरुस्ती). टिकवण्यासाठी लोक: सामाजिक वनीकरण, संयुक्त व्यवस्थापन, चिपको, अप्पिको, हरित भारत मिशन. बी, पाणी आणि राखण तिन्ही असतील तरच बाग टिकते. (→ English: forest cover, forest law and people's participation · हिन्दी: वन आवरण, वन कानून और जन भागीदारी)

In exam EnglishThis part closes the chapter. The four parts together trace a single chain: rock and climate make soil (Parts 1 and 2), soil and rainfall decide natural vegetation (Part 3), and people decide how much of that vegetation survives (Part 4). To measure what survives, the FSI's satellite-based forest cover must be kept apart from tree cover and from the legal recorded forest area; by ISFR 2023, forest and tree cover together reached about a quarter of India, still short of the one-third goal of the 1988 policy. To protect it, the Constitution since 1976 places forests in the Concurrent List and adds Article 48A and Article 51A(g), while the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, as amended in 2023, controls the diversion of forest land. And to make protection last, India has turned to people: social forestry and agroforestry outside forests, Joint Forest Management inside them, and the example of Chipko and Appiko, with the Green India Mission and the carbon-sink pledge pointing the way ahead.

Exam traps

Recap

Practice questions

Q1. Consider the following statements about 'forest cover' as defined by the Forest Survey of India:
1. It covers all patches of at least one hectare whose tree canopy density is more than 10 per cent, whoever owns them.
2. It includes only land recorded as forest in government records.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Only 1 is correct. Forest cover is a satellite-based measure that ignores ownership and legal status; land recorded as forest is a separate measure, the recorded forest area. So '2 only', 'both' and 'neither' are wrong.

Q2. In the Forest Survey of India's classification, 'moderately dense forest' refers to land with a tree canopy density of:

  1. 70 per cent and above
  2. 40 per cent and above but less than 70 per cent
  3. 10 per cent and above but less than 40 per cent
  4. Less than 10 per cent
Show answer

Answer: B. 40 per cent and above but less than 70 per cent

Moderately dense forest is 40 to 70 per cent canopy. 70 per cent and above is very dense forest, 10 to 40 per cent is open forest, and below 10 per cent is scrub, which is not counted as forest cover.

Q3. According to the India State of Forest Report 2023, which one of the following States has the largest forest cover by area?

  1. Arunachal Pradesh
  2. Madhya Pradesh
  3. Mizoram
  4. Chhattisgarh
Show answer

Answer: B. Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover by area, followed by Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Mizoram leads by share of its own area, not by total area.

Q4. Consider the following statements:
1. The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 transferred 'forests' from the State List to the Concurrent List.
2. Article 48A, which asks the State to safeguard forests and wild life, is a Fundamental Duty.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Only 1 is correct. Article 48A is a Directive Principle of State Policy; the related Fundamental Duty of citizens is Article 51A(g). Hence '2 only', 'both' and 'neither' are wrong.

Q5. Under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, prior approval of the Central Government is required before a State Government:
1. dereserves a reserved forest
2. uses forest land for a non-forest purpose
3. assigns forest land by lease to a private body
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer

Answer: D. 1, 2 and 3

Section 2 of the Act requires prior central approval for all three, as well as for clearing naturally grown trees for reafforestation. Every option that leaves out one of the three is incomplete.

Q6. Match the following:
List I (Movement or programme)
A. Chipko movement
B. Appiko movement
C. Joint Forest Management guidelines
D. Green India Mission
List II (Associated feature)
1. Uttara Kannada, 1983
2. Chamoli district, 1973
3. National Action Plan on Climate Change
4. Central guidelines of 1 June 1990
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3
  2. A-1, B-2, C-4, D-3
  3. A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4
  4. A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3
Show answer

Answer: A. A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3

Chipko began in Chamoli in 1973, Appiko in Uttara Kannada in 1983, JFM rests on the central guidelines of 1 June 1990, and the Green India Mission is one of the eight missions of the National Action Plan on Climate Change. The second code swaps Chipko and Appiko, the third swaps JFM and the Green India Mission, and the fourth misplaces Chipko and JFM.

Q7. The National Forest Policy, 1988 aims to bring what share of India's geographical area under forest or tree cover?

  1. One-fourth
  2. One-third
  3. One-half
  4. Two-thirds
Show answer

Answer: B. One-third

The national goal is one-third of the geographical area. One-fourth is roughly where forest and tree cover stand today (ISFR 2023), not the target; two-thirds is the goal for the hills and mountains only; one-half is not part of the policy.

Q8. Consider the following statements:
1. The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023 renamed the 1980 Act the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980.
2. In the T.N. Godavarman case (1996), the Supreme Court held that the word 'forest' in the 1980 Act covers only reserved forests notified under the Indian Forest Act, 1927.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Only 1 is correct. In Godavarman the Court read 'forest' broadly, in its dictionary sense, covering every area recorded as forest and any land that is forest in fact, whatever its ownership; it did not limit the word to reserved forests. So '2 only', 'both' and 'neither' are wrong.

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