The communities in India depend on the forest and its products for their well-being. The total forest cover in India is just 21.71% of the land area and various initiatives of government and non-government organisation are being taken to improve the forest cover. People from all walk of lives are engaging themselves at individual level to make others aware of the benefits of trees and making an effort to plant trees in open space, parks, roads, urban and sub urban and rural areas.

What is the reason for the low percentage of forest cover in India?

Man has been overexploiting the forests to satisfy not only his needs but also his greed. This has led to a decline in the forest cover.

1. Due to rapid population growth and the demand for more food, forests have been cleared to convert them into agricultural land.
2. Forests have been converted into pasture land for expanding dairy farming and cattle ranching.
3. Overgrazing in the forests by animals in the tropical and sub-tropical regions has resulted into large-scale degradation of natural vegetation.
4. Ever increasing demand for timber for various purposes due to industrial expansion and urbanisation has added to the problem of deforestation.
5. Construction of multi-purpose river valley projects has led to submergence of land and destruction of forested riversides.

All these factors have led to the decline in forests.