Define the National Forest Policy of India. According to this policy, how much of the country’s area should be under forest, and why?

India has forest policy since 1894. The policy was revised in 1952 and again in 1988. The main aim of the forest policy is protection, conservation and development of forests.

The objective of forest policy:

*Conservation of natural heritage.

*Increasing the productivity to meet the needs of people.

*Protecting the environment.

According to this policy, 33% of the country’s area should be under forest. The actual forest area was only 22% but the policy hoped to increase the percentage to 33%. National forest policy had a target of keeping 33% of land under forest in India so as to maintain ecological balance in a country. Forests help in the conservation of the natural environment so it is suggested that the one-third of total land area should be covered with forests.