Forest Survey of India: success for

operational national forest monitoring

Devendra PANDEY

Fmr DG, Forest Survey of India

Email ID: dpandeyifs@rediffmail.com; pandeyd30@gmail.com

Workshop on step-wise approaches for national forest

monitoring and REDD+ MRV capacity development Wageningen, Netherlands, 3-5 September 2012

GOFC-GOLD/ CIFOR

Phases of forest monitoring in India

Monitoring at management unit (forest division)

level through local forest inventory

Monitoring at national level

National forest inventory

Biennial forest cover mapping through

remote sensing

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Forest inventory (FI) was introduced in 1856 in one division mainly of teak forests for the preparation of the “Working Plans”/management plan for systematic management of forests.

Until 1884 expansion to other divisions was limited due to lack of skilled human resource.

Gradual expansion of inventory took place particularly after 1919 when maps of forests areas on appropriate scale were made available by Survey of India.

Inventories at MU level is continuing even now because harvesting can’t be done without approved W. Plan as per regulations of Federal Government.

History of monitoring of forests at

management unit (MU) level in India

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Forest inventories at MU level are limited to forests which are to be worked during next 10-15 years (not the entire area of MU) and are done in a different time frame.

Further, these inventories are not organized to generate estimates at state/national level for a given time frame.

There has been modifications in inventories after the introduction of GIS /RS in the recent decades and in many MUs inventories cover the entire forest area of MU with low intensity of sampling.

Application of modern tools and methodologies are, however, not uniform in all the States/MUs.

Monitoring of forests at management unit

level in India

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Field inventory of unexplored forest areas started after

the launch of a FAO/UNDP/GOI project named as Pre-

Investment Survey of Forest Resources (PISFR) in 1965

which led the foundation of NFI

From 1965 to 1981

Forest Inventory was confined to project areas for

setting up wood based industries

Sampling design was adopted as per prevailing

condition of areas but were based on systematic

samplings. Aerial photographs were used for identifying

areas and preparing thematic maps

After the project period in 1972 the inventory continued

by catchment area and then switched to district level

National Forest Inventory (NFI)

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Forest Survey of India was created in 1981 and NFI was

contemplated to be launched but in the absence of

adequate human resource it could not be done. The

focus also shifted over to monitoring of forest cover by

remote sensing technology in 1985.

As per the earlier practice forest inventory covered only

few selected districts each year due to limitation of

manpower.

About 3/4th of the country’s forests were inventoried in

20 years but no reliable estimate at national level of

growing stock could be generated.

National Forest Inventory

The NFI was finally launched by FSI in 2002 with the

existing human resource by modifying the inventory

approach and design followed until then.

The country has been stratified into 14 physiographic

zones- based on climate, vegetation, physiography

Ten percent (60) districts are selected and inventoried in

a two years period. India has about 600 civil districts.

The selection of districts is random from each

physiographic zone with probability proportion to size.

Along with the Forest inventory, vegetation survey of

herbs and shrubs is also carried out.

Measurement of soil and litter carbon is also carried.

Methodology of Growing Stock National Forest Inventory

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Sample Plots In a District

Inventory of 179 districts

completed out of 612

Sample plots = 22,000

New Biomass Study

FSI launched a new biomass study in 2008 to measure

missing components of forest biomass (not measured by

NFI) as per REDD requirement and completed in 2009.

The study followed two approaches

(a) measure biomass of herb, shrub, climber, dead wood

and litter by laying out sample plots (about 100 plots in

each physiographic zone thus in all 1,400 sample plots)

(b) select 20 to 30 number of trees for each species in

different zones cut and measure their biomass to

generate biomass equations for:

i) Dbh of NFI trees Vs. biomass of branch wood & leaf for

trees above 10 cm dbh.

ii) dbh/collar dia Vs. total biomass of trees below 10 cm

dbh.

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Outcome of New Biomass Study

National level C stock of forests giving values of different

C pools has been estimated

Based on the data collected in the new biomass study FSI

has developed new regression equations

about 200 new regressions equations for small sized trees/

seedlings for different species below 10 cm diameter

growing in to estimate their biomass

Similarly new equations have been developed to biomass of

branch wood and leaf of trees above 10 cm diameter

measured during regular NFI

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A. Total above ground

Biomass

(Mn Tonnes)

4785

Carbon stock

( Mn Tonnes)

2173

B. Below ground (root) 1509 685

T1. Total live biomass (A+B) 6294 2859

C. Deadwood 31 14

D. Litter 385 162

T2. Total dead biomass (C+D) 461 176

E. Soil Organic Carbon - 4292

Grand total (T1+T2+E) 6709 7328

Carbon stock of India’s forests

After completion of biomass study a new dimension has

been added to the NFI since 2010.

Additional parameters needed to estimate the total

carbon stock of the forests are being measured in the

sample plots of NFI

The estimated cost of inventory and data processing of a

sample plot is about US$ 200.00 per plot of which about

US$110.00 is spent on travel to sample plot, field measurement

including checking by supervisors and the rest on field

preparation, equipment, designing, data entry, processing etc

Methodology of Growing Stock National Forest Inventory

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Forest Survey of India (FSI) under the Federal Government (Ministry of Environment and Forests) is an organization fully dedicated to monitor the forest resource of the entire country regularly since 1981

Setup of Forest Survey of India (FSI)

North Zone

Shimla

East Zone

Kolkata

Central Zone

Nagpur

South Zone

Bangalore

Headquarters

DEHRADUN

Zonal Offices

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North Zone

East Zone

Central Zone

South Zone

Existing Area of Operation under the Zonal Offices

Monitoring of Forest Cover by Remote Sensing Technology

Forest Survey of India is monitoring the forest cover of

the country since 1980s. The first report on forest cover

was published in 1987 where satellite imageries of

1983/85 were used.

Since then monitoring of forest cover done on a two year

cycle using wall-to-wall approach and published through

India’s State of Forest Report.

So far forest cover has been monitored 12 times, the last

was in 2011.

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Monitoring of Forest Cover by Remote Sensing Technology

In the forest cover monitoring, forest are classified in three

categories

Very dense ( more than 70% density)

Moderately dense ( between 40 to 70% density)

Open ( between 10 to 40% density)

Less than 10% density is treated as scrub –non forests

( prior to 2001 there were only two classes dense (more than

40%) and open

Current minimum mapping unit is 1 ha maps on 1:50,000

scale and accuracy assessment with about 4000 sample

plots.

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Technological developments in Forest Cover

Assessments by FSI over the years Cycle Year of Assessment Satellite & Sensor Resolution Scale

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

LANDSAT MSS

LANDSAT TM

IRS-1B LISS-II

IRS-1C LISS-III

IRS-1C/1D LISS-III

80m x 80m 1:1million

30m x 30m

36m x 36m

23m x 23m

23m x 23m

1:250,000

1:50,000

IRS-1D, LISS-III 2003/2005 IX/X 23m x 23m 1:50,000

IRS-P6, LISS-III 2007/2009 XI/XII 23m x 23m 1:50,000

GEOMATICS LAB OF FSI at Dehradun

Forest Cover Map of India

FOREST COVER MAP OF INDIA

Very Dense Forest

Dense Forest

Open Forest

Scrub

Non Forest

Water Bodies

District Boundaries

Very Dense Forest

Dense Forest

Open Forest

Scrub

Non Forest

Water Bodies

District Boundaries

PAK

ISTA

N

NEPAL

CHINA

ARABIAN SEA

BAY OF BENGAL

BHUTAN

AFGANISTAN

AN

DA

MA

N &

NIC

OB

AR

ISL

AN

DS

(IND

IA)

BANGLADESH

LAKSHADWEEP

ISLANDS

Monitoring forest carbon stock

Estimation of above ground biomass

Woody biomass of living trees above ground

Biomass of non tree understory vegetation (herb,

shrub, climber)

Biomass of deadwood, woody debris and litter

Estimation of below ground biomass

Below ground biomass (root system)

Soil organic carbon

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Schematic diagram of Estimation of Carbon stock change in India’s Forests

Step 1. Classify forest cover of the country into 3 canopy densities classes using satellite imagery

Step 2. Overlay the layer of forest types found in the country.

Step 11. Estimate the total biomass and soil carbon of each polygon in the grid, aggregate polygons to get grid carbon and then the total carbon stock of forests .

Step 9. Convert the total above ground biomass per ha into carbon for each stratum.

Step 12. Estimate CO2 emission/ removal by superimposing grids of one FC assessment over next.

Step 5. Attach each forested

polygon within grid with its

attributes density, forest

type, location, soil and

climatic details.

Step 10. Analyze and distribute soil carbon data of NFI into different strata (forest type & density) and estimate carbon per ha.

Step 8. Expand biomass further by adding biomass of Shrubs, herbs, climbers, dead wood and litter of each strata.

Step 4. Use country wide

spatial data base of about

60,000 grids each of size

2½’ x 2½’ in GIS with unique identification.

Step 6. Analyze the distribution of NFI samples into different strata (density & forest type) and estimate volume per ha.

Step 7. Expand volume (biomass) per ha by adding missing components of tree biomass.

Step 3. Identify and

determine the area of forest

cover under each stratum

(about 30) stratified by two

variables (type & density).

Operational success and limitations

Forest Survey of India is a dedicated institution for the

national assessment of forest resources of India with the

Federal Government.

FSI has tried to keep pace with the technological

advances and requirements of the new information.

India’s long experience of forest inventory has been

helpful in building robust forest inventory system with good

control on quality of data.

Comparing the volume work for a country like India, the

size of the institution is too small as results re-

measurement of permanent plots gets delayed to know

biomass change etc.

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THANKS