Environmentalists say depleting forest cover over India may have less to do with grazing and population pressure, than with new policies linked to liberalisation. The Forest Survey of India conducts biennial surveys through remote sensing and prepares reports on which planning for sustainable development can be done. But the accuracy of the imagery is now under consideration. The sixth, State of the Forest Report - 1997 released recently, reveals a loss of 5500 sq km of forest cover since the 1995 assessment with major losses recorded in the states of Southern Andhra Pradesh and central Madhya Pradesh.