Dynamic Definitions: Unraveling the Impact of Everchanging Perspectives

Forests or Aranya were one of the three fundamental requirements of early inhabitants in India. The other two viz., habitability of the area (vastu) and land arability (Ksetra) were linked with forests. The Roman term “res nullius” or the English word “forest” implied extensive self-sufficient natural areas having perfect energy balance attained over thousands of years. The oldest written definition of forest is found in the book written by Manwood in 1665. However, the forestry experts in British India intentionally avoided an unambiguous definition of forest despite extensive knowledge and experience in European forest management. A legal or administrative definition that restricted itself to land with trees and vegetation would have made it difficult to declare any land without trees as forest and this would have been counterproductive to the very purpose for which forest laws were enacted. After the two World Wars, FAO took the onus of assessing the state of forests in different countries and their assessment report varied over a period of time based on the variations in the definitions of “forest” adopted from time to time. Lack of consensus among different forest-related multilateral environmental agreements added to variations at the country level as well. Manifestation of varied definitions can be seen in the reports of FAO as well as the Forest Survey of India wherein the science-based approach has given way to the area and tree-based approach setting aside soil as well as large and small animals which are an integral component of forest ecosystem. The Forest Survey of India’s biennial reports since 1987 are conspicuous by the absence of a definition of the term “forest.” Lack of clarity on “forest” has provided scope for the inclusion of tea and coffee plantation areas as well as orchards under the ambit of “forest cover” and “tree cover” as well. With climate change impacting lives and livelihoods with greater intensity, fostering a science-based definition at the national level is important not only for reporting and demarcation but also for the scientific management of natural forests that are biological reserves.