3/26/2020 Frontier articles on Society & Politics

Impact of Climate Change in the Forests of West Bengal

Gautam Kumar Das

Teen-aged girls, flocked around for picking leaves from the Sal trees of the forest, show the zigzag passage through the dense green
canopy to reach the Ketki falls. Ketki falls is actually an intermi ent spring, where water comes out of the ground water table of certain
depth and the accumulated water form a large sized triangular shaped pond inside the dense jungle of Mayur Jharna Elephant Reserve in
Jungle Mahal area under Jhargram District administra on. The large sized pond is surrounded with the dense jungle with varie es of
trees of different species like Sal Piyal Piyasal Mahua Kendu Kuchla Bahera Kusum and other trees. We call it a dense forest as there are
44 trees in an average having diameter at breast height of 10 cm or more in 100 sq metre area in the Mayurjharna Elephant Reserve. The
green canopy is covered with luxuriant trees and they are healthy by nature. The same feature of the forests are observed in the
Taldangra, Simlapal, Sarenga and Joypur forests of Bankura, Lodhashuli, Jamboni, Belpahari, Shilda, Kankrajhor, Mayur jharna, Duyarsini
and Chilkigarh forests of Jhargram, Arabari, Lagarh, Jhitka, Karnagarh and Ramgarh forests of Paschim Medinipur, Gha huli and Bandwan
forests of Purulia district, Panagarh and Garh Jungal of Paschim Barddhaman, and Ilambazar forest of Birbhum. Actually the forest areas
of Jhargram, Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia districts and part of Paschim Barddhaman, Birbhum and Purba Medinipur form the
Jungle Mahal. Luxuriant leaves, healthy appearance and adequate numbers of trees in existence of the forests, already surveyed, might
be helpful for drawing such inference that these forests at least are not affected by the changing clima c situa ons due to global
warming. The sta s cs on forests for India and West Bengal published in the India State of Forest Report 2019 reflects too the same
observa ons as the expansion of forest cover of both India and West Bengal has gradually been increasing with me.

The goal of greening one-third part of the geographical areas of India is running beyond 12% as the total forest cover of India stands at
7,12,249 sq km which is 21.67% of the total areas of the country, though the forest cover has gradually been increasing since 1987, the
year mark of first survey on the forests of the country by the Forest Survey of India. The forest cover is recorded an increase of nearly
0.6% in 2019 in comparison to that of 2017 survey as reported by the Forest Survey of India in their India State of Forest Report 2019.
Country’s green cover is rather different including forest cover, tree cover and the trees outside the forest amoun ng a total of 8,07,276
sq km which is 24.56 % of the geographical areas of India. Tree cover, more specifically, Trees Outside Forest (TOF), accoun ng for 95,027
sq km in 2019 comprises sca ered trees on the roadside and canal side trees under social forestry scheme including personal or private
planta on i.e. trees of all forma ons outside the forest. The increase of forest cover by 3976 sq km and tree cover by 1212 sq km accounts
for the rise of total green cover of the country at 8,07,276 sq km, which is 24.56% of the total geographical area of India. Recorded forest
area may or may not have forest cover, this area is recorded as forest in the Government records. Such recorded forest area in India is
7,67,419 sq km and 11879 sq km in West Bengal inclusive of Recorded Forest, Protected Forest and Unclassed Forest as classified by the
forest sector. The present forest cover of 21.67% in India is yet to reach the 23.34% of recorded forest areas of the country’s total
geographical areas of 3,287,469 sq km though the changing forest scenario of India as recorded by the India State of Forest Report 2019
certainly raises a signature of hope for a green India in near future.

In comparison to the country’s forest cover, West Bengal state has recorded a rise by 0.3%, from 16,847 sq km in 2017 to 16,901 sq km in
2019, but trees outside forest i.e. green cover of non-forest areas has recorded a decrease by 6.1%, from 2,136 sq km in 2017 to 2,006 sq
km in 2019. Loss of such greenery outside the forest areas in West Bengal is the consequences of construc on of bridges, foot bridges,
widen of roads and city urbaniza on projects. Forest cover of the districts like Howrah, Murshidabad, North Dinajpur, North 24 Parganas
and South 24 Parganas has declined, however, forest cover of Bankura, Birbhum, Purulia and Paschim Midnapur has increased. The India
State of Forest Report 2019 has recorded overall rise of forest cover in West Bengal and the loss of forest cover in a few districts of the
state is only due to the cause of man-made interference.

District-wise Forest Cover in West Bengal

District Geographical Very Mod. Open Total % of Change wrt Scrub

Area Dense Dense Forest (sq km) Geographical 2017 (sq km)
(sq km) Forest Forest (sq km) Area assessment(sq
(sq km) (sq km) km)

Bankura 6882 222.33 395.27 667.98 1285.58 18.68 15.58 28.59

Barddhaman 7024 57.53 91.78 190.00 339.31 4.83 4.31 7.35
Birbhum 4545 1.00 34.14 149.66 184.80 4.07 7.80 8.90
Dakshin
Dinajpur 2219 0.00 5.83 81.29 87.12 3.93 0.12 0.00
Darjeeling 3149 720.76 654.52 992.52 2367.80 75.19 2.80 9.21
Haora 1467 0.00 50.00 253.77 303.77 20.71 -0.23 0.00
Hugli 3149 0.00 14.00 146.00 160.00 5.08 0.00 0.00
Jalpaiguri 6227 724.22 434.92 1703.26 2862.40 45.97 5.40 39.65
Koch Bihar 3387 0.00 27.00 322.06 349.06 10.31 0.06 0.00
Kolkata 185 0.00 0.00 1.00 1.00 0.54 0.00 0.00
Maldah 3733 0.00 209.04 282.65 491.69 13.17 0.69 0.00
Murshidabad 5324 0.00 53.06 291.83 344.89 6.48 -1.11 0.00
Nadia 3927 1.00 160.16 318.84 480.00 12.22 0.00 0.00
North 24
Parganas 4094 13.02 184.98 524.98 722.98 17.66 -0.02 0.00

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3/26/2020 Frontier articles on Society & Politics
Paschim 9368 256.21 591.64 1313.69 2161.54 23.07 10.54 20.24
Medinipur
Purba 4713 1.99 197.96 620.10 820.05 17.40 0.05 2.50
Medinipur 6259 37.36 306.94 571.58 915.88 14.63 11.88 28.68
Puruliya
South 24 9960 983.10 745.03 1060.58 2788.71 27.99 -3.29 1.00
Parganas 3140 0.00 3.99 230.94 234.93 7.48 -0.07 0.00
U ar Dinajpur
88752 3018.52 4160.26 9722.73 16901.51 19.04 54.51 146.12
Grand Total

Source: India State of Forest Report 2019

Global warming due to climate change generally results damage on forest due to severe drought and wildfires. Such risks, in a changing
climate, loss of forest cover will affect growth and produc on of trees and mbers. Further, forest fires, insect outbreaks, wind damage
due to cyclonic hazards, and other extreme events result in substan al loss to forest canopy. Consequent upon such adverse effects,
forest damage results reduc on of biodiversity, nega ve impacts on erosion and hydrology and more par cularly on tourism sector. On
contrary, scien sts reported that increasing concentra ons of the atmospheric Carbon dioxide, aside from modifying the temperature and
precipita on pa ern, may enhance the growth and produc on of mbers and trees through the carbon fer liza on effect. In West
Bengal, the response of forestry to global warming is likely to be mul faceted par cularly in the case of social forestry, where some
species more appropriate to climate will replace the earlier species which are no longer suitable for the changing clima c condi on.
Forest and forestry in West Bengal are likely to have a modest impact on wood produc on in changing situa ons of the climate change.
Favourable clima c condi on with changing temperature and precipita on pa ern that produce a direct impact on natural and modified
forest will eventually result in luxuriant growth and forest expansion thereon in the state of West Bengal. In the present day situa on,
forest department must have to play the key role with farsightedness for the dense growth and expansion of the forest in the state.
Foresters or forest managers might have to chalk out plans before going to further planta on programme, either for growing social
forestry or regenera on of trees inside the forest cover as the choice of species will change to those more suitable to the new climate.

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Fron er
Mar 26, 2020

Gautam Kumar Das ek tas@gmail.com

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