The latest ‘India State of Forest Report 2023’ (ISFR-2023) reveals that Vidarbha’s forest cover has increased by 128.4 sq km as compared to previous ISFR-2021. Vidarbha’s current forest cover is 24.05 per cent of total geographical area of the region. In previous ISFR-2021, the total forest area of Vidarbha region was 23.91 per cent of its geographical area. The latest report indicates a rise by 0.14 per cent. However, as per the district-wise statistics of Vidarbha, eight districts out of 11 have witnessed decrease in forest cover as compared to previous ISFR-2021 report. Amravati, Bhandara and Gondia districts of Vidarbha witnessed the increase in forest cover this year. Amravati recorded 1.10 sq km forest area increase in 2023 whereas Bhandara witnessed 8.31 sq km and Gondia witnessed 3.40 sq km of forest area increase as per the ISFR-23.

 

 

Whereas, Gadchiroli has retained its position as the district with the highest forest cover of 10,015.48 sq km. Despite highest forest cover in the State, Gadchiroli also witnessed decrease in forest cover in last two years by almost 20% which is a matter of concern for the government. Forest cover and its impact on the development projects has always been a contentious as well as a political issue. In fact, the issue has been featuring regularly in the regional development documents and notes. Especially, in case of Vidarbha region, the development experts and environmentalists have been at loggerheads. The pro-Vidarbha statehood activists have been of the opinion that the region has been lagging in development despite having conserved forests better than other parts of Maharashtra. However, the environmentalists have been of the opinion that finding deficiency of other districts in forest conservation should not serve as an excuse for depleting forests in Vidarbha.

 

The statistics of district-wise forest cover reveals that the second capital of the State which is the major producer of electricity for Maharashtra, also witnessed drop in forest cover by 3.24 per cent in last two years. The total forest cover of Nagpur district is 2,005.57 sq km of its total geographical area. Similarly, Chandrapur district, which is famous for Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) has also witnessed decrease of forest cover by 9.46 per cent in last two years. Akola district which has the lowest forest cover in Vidarbha — 5.52 per cent of its geographical area, witnessed a huge drop in forest cover by 11.54 per cent which is also going to be a major challenge for the Government. Other districts like Buldhana (-1.10 per cent), Wardha (0.06 per cent), Washim (-3.31 per cent) and Yavatmal (-12.32 per cent) also reported lesser forest cover as compared to ISFR 2021.