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 intermittent 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 administration. The large sized pond is surrounded with the dense jungle with varieties 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, Ghatihuli 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 climatic situations due to global warming. The statistics on forests for India and West Bengal published in the India State of Forest Report 2019 reflects too the same observations as the expansion of forest cover of both India and West Bengal has gradually been increasing with time. 

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 amounting 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), accounting for 95,027 sq km in 2019 comprises scattered trees on the roadside and canal side trees under social forestry scheme including personal or private plantation i.e. trees of all formations 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 construction of bridges, foot bridges, widen of roads and city urbanization 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

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 production of trees and timbers. Further, forest fires, insect outbreaks, wind damage due to cyclonic hazards, and other extreme events result in substantial loss to forest canopy. Consequent upon such adverse effects, forest damage results reduction of biodiversity, negative impacts on erosion and hydrology and more particularly on tourism sector. On contrary, scientists reported that increasing concentrations of the atmospheric Carbon dioxide, aside from modifying the temperature and precipitation pattern, may enhance the growth and production of timbers and trees through the carbon fertilization effect. In West Bengal, the response of forestry to global warming is likely to be multifaceted particularly 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 climatic condition. Forest and forestry in West Bengal are likely to have a modest impact on wood production in changing situations of the climate change. Favourable climatic condition with changing temperature and precipitation pattern 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 situation, 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 plantation programme, either for growing social forestry or regeneration of trees inside the forest cover as the choice of species will change to those more suitable to the new climate.

Back to Home Page

Frontier
Mar 26, 2020