Vegetation Survey

Introduction

Forests provide renewable raw material; and energy, maintain biological diversity, mitigate climate change, protect land and water resources, provide recreation facilities, improve air quality and help alleviate poverty. At the same time forests are affected by fire, grazing, pest and invasive species and are also the primary targets for agricultural and urban expansion.

The forest wealth in our country is extremely diverse as a result of the huge variation in the topography of the country. Due to the impact of biotic pressure on our forests, many forest areas spread across the country has been depleted and degraded which is a serious concern.

The role of India’s forests in the national economy and in ecology was further emphasized in the 1988 National Forest Policy, which focused on ensuring environmental stability, restoring the ecological balance, and preserving the remaining forests. Other objectives of the policy were meeting the need for fuel wood, fodder and small timber for rural and tribal people while recognizing the need to actively involve local people in the management of forest resources. A new target was to increase the forest cover to 33 percent of India’s land area. While adequate protection and afforestation activities has contributed to the increase in the extent and quality of forest cover in some parts of the country, it is extremely important that the spatial distribution of the changes in forest cover and growing stock be monitored on a regular basis for effective planning. It is imperative for this purpose to conduct regular assessment of forest cover.

Forest Survey of India (FSI), is a premier national organization for forest resource assessment working under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Besides, carrying out forest and tree cover assessment, Forest Survey of India is also engaged in providing the services of training, research and extension. Established on June 1, 1981, the Forest Survey of India succeeded the "Preinvestment Survey of Forest Resources" (PISFR), a project initiated in 1965 by Government of India with the sponsorship of FAO and UNDP. The main objective of PISFR was to ascertain the availability of raw material for establishment of wood based industries in selected areas of the country. In its report in 1976, the National Commission on Agriculture (NCA) recommended the creation of a National Forest Survey Organization for collection of data on scientific lines through countrywide comprehensive forest resources survey at regular intervals. Consequently, PISFR was reorganized into FSI in June 1981. After a critical review of activities undertaken by FSI, Government of India redefined the mandate of FSI in 1986 in order to make it more relevant to the rapidly changing needs and aspirations of the country. The main objectives of FSI are as follows:

Objectives of FSI

To prepare State of Forest Report biennially, providing assessment of latest forest cover in the country and monitoring changes in these.

To prepare thematic maps on 1:50,000 scale, using aerial photographs.

To function as a nodal agency for collection, compilation, storage and dissemination of spatial database on forest resources.

To conduct training of forestry personnel in application of technologies related to resources survey, remote sensing, GIS, etc.

To strengthen research & development infrastructure in FSI and to conduct

research on applied forest survey techniques.

To support State/UT Forest Departments (SFD) in forest resources survey, mapping and inventory.

To undertake forestry related special studies/consultancies and custom made training courses for SFD’s and other organisations on project basis.

Major activities

The major activities of FSI are:

a. Forest Cover Assessment

b. Inventory of Forest areas

c. Inventory of Trees Outside Forests (Rural & Urban categories)

d. Inventory data processing

e. Methodology Design

f. Training and Extension

g. Projects and Consultancies

Organizational Set-up.

The Forest Survey of India is headquartered at Dehradun and has four zonal offices located at Shimla, Kolkata, Nagpur and Bangalore. The Forest Survey of India is headed by a Director General who is assisted by two Joint Directors at headquarters who are looking after the National Forest Data Management Centre (NFDMC) and the Training & Forest Inventory (TFI) units. Each zonal office is headed by a Regional Director. The locations of the headquarters along with zonal offices is depicted in Fig.1.1.The Headquarters as well as the Zonal offices work in close coordination to carry out the various activities of FSI.

Table 1- Jurisdiction of the Zonal Offices Sl. No.	Name of the Zone	Jurisdiction
States		Union Territories
1.	Northern Zone, Shimla	Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan & Delhi.	Chandigarh
2.	Eastern Zone, Kolkata	Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh & Orissa.	Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
3.	Central Zone, Nagpur	Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat & Goa.	Daman & Diu. Dadara and Nagar Haveli
4.	Southern Zone, Bangalore	Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka Kerala and Tamil Nadu.	Lakshadweep, Pondicherry