LUCKNOW, June 6 -- The recorded forest area in the state has increased over the last 23 years. This has been recorded in the State of Forest Report (SOFR) 2001 and SOFR 2023. However, the source of worry is that protected forests recorded a substantial decrease over the years in the state. The recorded forest area in the state was 16,826 sq km in 2001 which increased to 17,435 sq km in 2023 according to SOFR 2001 and SOFR 2023, respectively. While the total recorded forest area increased by 609 sq km, the same reports mentioned that the protected forest area reduced by 2,095 sq km: from 2425 sq km in SOFR 2001 to 330 sq km in SOFR 2023. Despite this dip, what led to overall increase in the recorded forest area is an increase in the reserve forest area by 493 sq km from 11,078 sq km in SOFR 2001 to 11,571 sq km in SOFR 2023. Similarly, the rapid increase in unclassed forest from 3,323 sq km in SOFR 2001 to 5,534 sq km in SOFR 2023. Head of the geology department at Lucknow University, senior prof Dhruvsen Singh said that in an ideal condition a country required 33% of its land under forest cover, and every category matters. In UP it was 6.98% as per SOFR 2001 and 7.24% as per SOFR 2023. "If the protected forest cover keeps shrinking, the temperature rise at local level is inevitable," Singh said. Head of the environmental science department at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, prof Venkatesh Dutta, said that while the deep forests - reserved and protected ones-act as a major carbon sink and are more resilient to climate change, the unclassed forests embed a lesser capacity for carbon sequestration when compared. "The constant increase in city temperatures is due to reducing deep forest cover. " said Dutta. Director of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences (BSIP), Mahesh G Thakkar said that unclassed forests from social forestry, roadside plantations, and even household gardens now cover hundreds of sq km. "An unclassed forest is not as efficient as a protected forest. It doesn't have the same ecosystem," said Thakkar....