Forest, tree cover in India rose by 2,261 sq km in last 2 yrs: ISFR report

The forest and tree cover in India has risen by 2,261 square kilometers in the last two years, according to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021, which showed Andhra Pradesh growing the maximum forest cover of 647 square km.

The biennial report by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), which is an assessment of the country's forest resources, was released on Thursday by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, who revealed that the total tree-and-forest cover in the country includes an increase of 1,540 sq km of forest cover and 721 sq km of tree cover compared to the 2019 report.

According to the report, India's total forest and tree cover is now spread across 80.9 million hectares, which is 24.62 percent of the geographical area of the country.

The top five states in terms of increase in forest cover are Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km), Telangana (632 sq km), Odisha (537 sq km), Karnataka (155 sq km), and Jharkhand (110 sq km).

Area-wise, Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Maharashtra.

In terms of forest cover as the percentage of total geographical area, the top five states are Mizoram (84.53 percent), Arunachal Pradesh (79.33 percent), Meghalaya (76 percent), Manipur (74.34 percent), and Nagaland (73.90 percent).

The present assessment also reveals that 17 states/UT's have above 33 percent of the geographical area under the forest cover.