Forest cover:
An analysis of satellite imageries and air photos indicates that in 1982 about 1 I%of land area in India was thick forests and the remaining 3% degraded or thin forests. The world figures are much higher than this, and a higher figure is considered necessary from the point of view of climate as well as maintenance of the composition of the air we breathe. In India, most of the forests resources are used as fuel by people living in or around them. A good deal of forest trees arb felled for timber, and for packing fruit and for making paper. Besides, forests are being overgrazed by the increasing number of cattle. During the last 30 years, approximately 4.3 million hectares of forests were converted into agricultural fields or lost in construction of dams and roads. This is quite a good fraction of the 75 million hectares of total forest area. According to the latest information, the country is losing its forests at the rate of 0.16 million hectare every year. If the present rate of deforestation continues, a good deal of the country would become a mere grassland within a hundred years.