Selling now: Forests

Click on the image to enlarge.

Here are the facts:

No such thing as a degraded forest exists. Even in the terminology of the Forest Survey of India. But of course, if we 'degrade' the forests, it's easy to exploit them.
So lo and behold, we have 'degraded forests'.
Common sense tells us that we need forests. So what does it take to 'upgrade' forests? Do we have so much green cover that we can do away with 55% of our forests that our environment minister says are degraded?

Here are a few links:

http://bit.ly/xF6fh

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090620/nation.htm#7

and

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090619/main5.htm

An excerpt:

Sunita Narian-led Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and the National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers (NFFPFW) say the expression ‘degraded forests’ was unclear and ambiguous, thereby making the decision controversial.

NFFPFW forest rights activist Souparna Lahiri termed it the move as a “preemptive kind of comment”. “The minister said around 55 to 60 pc of the forestland is degraded. I don’t know whether the data he is quoting is correct.”
As per Forest Survey of India classification, said Lahiri, no terminology as ‘degraded forest’ existed. “Forests have been classified as open forest, dense forest and very dense forest.