Vanishing green lines, a red signal for Tamil Nadu: Experts

Tamil Nadu, which has a geographical area of 1,30,058 sq km, has been steadily losing its tree cover to urbanisation. According to India State of Forest Report (ISFR) data, the State’s tree cover has dipped from 4,968 sq km (comprising 3.82% of geographical area or GA) in 2009 to 4,505 sq km (3.46% GA) in 2015. 

Experts say rapid urbanisation and lack of planning has taken a severe toll on the State’s tree cover. Environmentalist Nityanand Jayaraman said that replantation efforts in isolation can’t undo the damage done by felling trees more than hundred years old. “If you look at Besant Nagar in the last decade, countless trees have been felled to make way for apartments,” stressed this expert. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Ismail, soil ecologist and Director of Ecoscience Research Foundation, said environment eventually loses out in the name of development. “In 2001, when roads were being laid on ECR, the government had promised to compensate for the cut trees. But, a drive down ECR now will reveal that nothing has been done so far,” he added. 

Dr Balaji Narasimhan, Associate Professor, Environment and Water Resources Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering at IIT-Madras, said rehabilitation efforts should be a concentrated and wellplanned effort. “Replantation efforts should be guided by an ecologist familiar with the area. The variety of plants chosen should be native to the region. In many cases, exotic trees are planted in place of native species, which either take up too much water or don’t survive,” explained this academician.  Abdul Ghani, environmental activist, said each individual should plant and maintain a tree. “Our tree cover should be at least 33% but it is less than 5% now,” he rued. 

While the state’s tree cover is on the decline, there has been a minuscule growth in the forest cover – from 23,844 sq km of Total Forest Area (TFA) in 2013 to 26,345 sq km of TFA in 2015. An official from the Forest Department said apart from reforestation efforts, the department also encourages many educational institutions to plant trees. “There are many people planting saplings but nobody is interested in maintaining them,” a forest official said.