Center releases India State of Forest Report 2023; check details

Minister for Environment Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav released the India State of Forest Report 2023 ISFR 2023 on Saturday at Forest Research Institute DehradunThe report prepared biennially by the Forest Survey of India FSI provides a comprehensive assessment of Indiarsquos forest and tree resourcesAs per the data released Indias total forest and tree cover has increased by 1445 sq km since 2021 reaching 2517 per cent of the total geographical area in 2023Together the forest and tree cover amount to 827357 sq km or 2517 per cent of Indias geographical area with forest cover alone rising by 156 sq kmForest cover refers to all land that has a tree canopy density of more than 10 per cent and spans over an area of one hectare or more regardless of the type of ownership or legal statusThis includes natural forests as well as manmade plantations orchards and tree patches in urban and rural areas that meet the size and canopy density criteriaTree cover is defined as patches of trees and isolated trees outside the Reserved Forest Area RFA that are less than one hectareHe further mentioned that India has achieved an additional carbon sink of 229 billion tonnes compared to 2005 levelsIndias carbon stock in 2023 is estimated at 72855 million tonnes which is an increase of 815 million tonnes compared to 2021As part of its Nationally Determined Contributions NDCs to meet the Paris Agreement goals the country has committed to creating an additional carbon sink of 25 to 3 billion tonnes through additional forest and tree cover by 2030FSI Director General Anoop Singh said bamboo cover has also been estimated and included in the tree cover Indias total bamboobearing area is now estimated at 154670 sq km an increase of 5227 sq km compared to 2021The states with the biggest gains in total forest and tree cover were Chhattisgarh 684 sq km Uttar Pradesh 559 sq km Odisha 559 sq km and Rajasthan 394 sq kmThe highest gains in forest cover were reported in Mizoram 242 sq km Gujarat 180 sq km and Odisha 152 sq kmIn terms of total area Madhya Pradesh has the most forest and tree cover 85724 sq km followed by Arunachal Pradesh 67083 sq km and Maharashtra 65383 sq kmMadhya Pradesh has the highest forest cover 77073 sq km followed by Arunachal Pradesh 65882 sq km and Chhattisgarh 55812 sq kmWhen it comes to forest cover as a percentage of geographical area Lakshadweep ranks first 9133 percent followed by Mizoram 8534 percent and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands 8162 percentThe FSI also examined forest cover changes in the Western Ghats and Eastern States Area WGESA during the last decade revealing a total loss of 5822 sq kmDuring this time very dense forests expanded by 346512 sq km whereas moderately dense forests and open forests contracted by 104323 and 248011 square kilometres respectivelyThe countrys hill districts have a forest cover of 28371320 sq km accounting for 40 percent of their total geographical area According to the most recent study hill districts forest cover has increased by 23414 sq kmAccording to the most recent ISFR study the northeastern regions forest cover has decreased by 32730 sq kmThe regions total forest and tree cover is 17439470 sq km or 67 percent of its geographical areaAccording to the research the countrys overall mangrove cover is 499168 sq km representing a 743 sq km drop since 2021According to the research the categories of moderately dense forest and open forest decreased by 104323 sq km and 248011 sq km respectively during the last decade despite gains in very dense forestThe FSI has been measuring forest cover since 1987 and tree cover since 2001According to the National Forest Policy of 1988 33 percent of Indias geographical area should be covered with forest or trees