Forests, Wetlands, Mangroves and Coral Reefs

Forests of India

India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 (released by the Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, in December 2024):

• forest cover: about 7.15 lakh sq km, or 21.76% of geographical area;
• forest and tree cover together: about 25.17%;
• largest forest cover by area: Madhya Pradesh, then Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh;
• highest share of area under forest: Mizoram (about 85%), then Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar;
• carbon stock: about 7,285 million tonnes. India's NDC target is an additional carbon sink of 2.5–3 billion tonnes CO₂-equivalent by 2030, and it had created about 2.29 billion tonnes of additional sink by 2021 (per ISFR).

Concerns raised by experts:

• forest "cover" counts plantations, orchards and tree crops as forest, which masks loss of natural forest;
• dense forest has declined in the North-East;
• forest fires are frequent.

National Forest Policy 1988: the target is 33% of geographical area under forest or tree cover (two-thirds in hills).

Forest types (Champion and Seth): about 16 type groups. The main ones:

• tropical moist deciduous (sal and teak), the largest;
• tropical dry deciduous;
• tropical wet evergreen (Western Ghats, North-East, Andamans);
• montane, thorn and littoral/swamp (mangrove) forests.

Forest laws and governance

Indian Forest Act 1927: defines reserved, protected and village forests.

Forest (Conservation) Act 1980: requires central approval to divert forest land for non-forest use. Diverted land must be offset by compensatory afforestation, funded under the CAMPA Act 2016.

The 2023 amendment (Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam):

• limits the Act to recorded forests and land recorded as forest after 1980;
• exempts projects such as strategic linear projects within 100 km of borders, security infrastructure and zoos.

Critics argued it narrowed the *T.N. Godavarman* (1996) ruling, under which "forest" means any land that matches the dictionary meaning of forest, whatever its ownership. In 2024–25 the Supreme Court directed that the Godavarman definition continue pending final decision.

Forest Rights Act 2006:

• recognises individual and community forest rights of Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers;
• community forest resource rights let gram sabhas manage forests;
• in *Niyamgiri* (2013), the Supreme Court made the gram sabha's consent decisive for the Vedanta bauxite mining project in Odisha.

Programmes:

• Joint Forest Management (1990);
• Green India Mission (under the NAPCC);
• Nagar Van Yojana (urban forests);
• the Green Credit Programme (2023), which lets entities earn credits for tree planting on degraded land. It has been criticised for possibly encouraging monoculture plantations;
• the "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam" campaign (2024).

Wetlands

Wetlands are land saturated with water, permanently or seasonally: marshes, lakes, floodplains, mangroves and estuaries. Their functions:

• flood control;
• groundwater recharge;
• water purification ("the kidneys of the landscape");
• carbon storage;
• habitat for migratory birds.

The Ramsar Convention (1971, Ramsar, Iran): India joined in 1982. By 2025, India had about 91–94 Ramsar sites, the most in Asia.

• Tamil Nadu has the most sites.
• The first sites were Chilika Lake (Odisha) and Keoladeo (Rajasthan), both designated in 1981.
• The largest is the Sundarbans (WB).

The Montreux Record lists Ramsar sites with adverse ecological change. Keoladeo and Loktak Lake (Manipur) are on it; Chilika was removed in 2002 after restoration.

Regulation: the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017, implemented by State Wetland Authorities. Amrit Dharohar (2023) promotes Ramsar sites. Wetland loss is caused by encroachment, pollution, invasive weeds and siltation; urban lakes are especially threatened.

Mangroves

Mangroves are salt-tolerant (halophytic) trees of tropical intertidal zones. Their adaptations:

• pneumatophores (breathing roots);
• stilt roots;
• vivipary: seeds germinate on the tree.

Value:

• they protect coasts from cyclones and tsunamis (2004 evidence);
• they are fish nurseries;
• they store large amounts of blue carbon.

Extent: India has about 4,992 sq km of mangroves (ISFR 2021/2023), about 3% of South Asia's total.

• The Sundarbans (WB) has about 40% of India's mangroves.
• Other large areas are in Gujarat (Kutch) and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Bhitarkanika (Odisha) is home to saltwater crocodiles.

MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes, 2023) aims to restore about 540 sq km. India joined the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (2022, led by the UAE and Indonesia).

Coral reefs

Corals are colonies of tiny polyps that build calcium carbonate skeletons. They live in symbiosis with zooxanthellae algae, which give them colour and food.

Conditions they need:

• warm (about 20–28°C), clear, shallow, sunlit water;
• normal salinity;
• low sediment.

Types:

• fringing reefs, close to shore;
• barrier reefs, separated from shore by a lagoon;
• atolls: ring-shaped reefs around a lagoon, such as Lakshadweep.

Indian reefs:

• the Gulf of Mannar (fringing);
• the Gulf of Kutch (the northernmost reefs, which tolerate extremes);
• Lakshadweep (atolls);
• the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (fringing and barrier reefs).

Threats:

• coral bleaching: when heat stress causes corals to expel their zooxanthellae, they turn white and may die. The fourth global bleaching event (2023–2025) affected about 84% of the world's reef area (NOAA/ICRI);
• ocean acidification;
• destructive fishing;
• sedimentation;
• tourism.

All reef-building corals are in Schedule I of the WPA.

Conservation: reef protection under CRZ rules, coral transplantation (Gulf of Mannar, using ZSI methods), and marine protected areas.

Other coastal ecosystems: seagrass beds (habitat of the dugong, India's only herbivorous marine mammal, protected in the Dugong Conservation Reserve in Palk Bay, notified in 2022), estuaries, lagoons and salt marshes.

Analysis

These ecosystems give natural infrastructure: mangroves and reefs reduce cyclone and erosion damage at a lower cost than seawalls, while wetlands absorb floods. Nature-based solutions are now central to climate adaptation. Their protection requires:

• strict enforcement of CRZ and wetland rules;
• community participation (fishers, forest dwellers);
• integrating their value into land-use planning and environmental impact assessment.

Common prelims traps

• Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest area; Mizoram the highest percentage.
• Chilika was removed from the Montreux Record in 2002.
• The Gulf of Kutch has India's northernmost corals.
• The dugong is India's only herbivorous marine mammal.

Quick self-test

1. *Why do corals bleach?* Heat stress makes them expel the symbiotic zooxanthellae algae.
2. *What did the Godavarman case decide about "forest"?* Any area matching the dictionary meaning of forest, whatever its ownership.
3. *What is vivipary in mangroves?* Seeds germinating while still attached to the parent tree.

Practice: Mains question

*"Mangroves and coral reefs are India's first line of coastal defence." Discuss their significance and the threats they face. (150 words)*

Key terms

• Very dense forest: canopy density of 70% or more (FSI classification). Moderately dense is 40–70%; open forest is 10–40%.
• Blue carbon: carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems: mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes.
• Compensatory afforestation: planting on non-forest land to offset forest land diverted for projects.

• Atoll: a ring-shaped coral reef or island chain enclosing a lagoon.
• Halophyte: a plant adapted to growing in saline conditions.
• Littoral forest: forest along the coast, including mangrove and beach forests.