Minister of State (I/C) for Environment and Forests Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan further stated in Rajya Sabha today that in the India State of Forest Report, the forests are classified into three categories such as Very Dense Forest (VDF), Moderately Dense Forest (MDF) & Open Forests not as degraded forests. The area covered by Very Dense Forests (VDF) is 83,471 km2 (2.54%), that with Moderately Dense Forests (MDF) is 320,736 km2 (9.76%) and Open Forests is 287,820 km2 (8.75%).
She said forests are defined legally in accordance to the provisions of Indian Forest Act, 1927 such as Reserve Forests, Protected Forests and Village Forests.
The Minister, however, clarified that the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India has extended the scope of forest and “forest" must be understood according to its dictionary meaning. This description cover all statutorily recognized forests, whether designated as reserved, protected or otherwise, including any area recorded as forest in the Government records irrespective of the ownership, for the purpose of Section 2 (i) of the Forest Conservation Act. Read the full report here.
Source: Press Information Bureau, GOI, New Delhi.
