Forest, tree cover of country stands at 25.17 pc: Union Environment Minister

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], December 21 (ANI): Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav on Saturday released the “India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023” at Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun, expressing happiness over the fact that there was an increase of 1,445 square kilometres in the total forest and tree cover of the country.

“The Forest and Tree cover of the country is 8,27,357 sq km which is 25.17 per cent of the geographical area of the country, consisting of 7,15,343 sq km (21.76%) as forest cover and 1,12,014 sq km (3.41%) as tree cover,” a release issued by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) said.

As compared to the assessment of 2021, there is an increase of 1445 sq km in the forest and tree cover of the country which includes 156 sq km increase in the forest cover and 1289 sq km increase in tree cover.

The top four states showing the maximum increase in forest and tree cover are Chhattisgarh (684 sq km) followed by Uttar Pradesh (559 sq km), Odisha (559 sq km) and Rajasthan (394 sq km).

The top three states showing the maximum increase in forest cover are Mizoram (242 sq km) followed by Gujarat (180 sq km) and Odisha (152 sq km).

Area-wise wise top three states having the largest forest and tree cover are Madhya Pradesh (85,724 sq km) followed by Arunachal Pradesh (67,083 sq km) and Maharashtra (65,383 sq km).

The National Forest Policy of 1988 says that at least 33 per cent of the geographical area should be under forest to maintain ecological stability.

Area wise top three states having the largest forest cover are Madhya Pradesh (77,073 sq km) followed by Arunachal Pradesh (65,882 sq km) and Chhattisgarh (55,812 sq km).

In terms of the percentage of forest cover with respect to the total geographical area, Lakshadweep (91.33 per cent) has the highest forest cover followed by Mizoram (85.34 per cent) and Andaman & Nicobar Island (81.62 per cent).

The present assessment also reveals that 19 states/UTs have more than 33 per cent of the geographical area under forest cover. Out of these, eight states/UTs namely Mizoram, Lakshadweep, A & N Island, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Manipur have forest cover above 75 per cent.

Meanwhile, the total mangrove cover is 4,992 sq km in the country.

The total growing stock of India’s forest and trees outside forests is estimated as 6430 million cum, of which 4479 million cum is inside the forests and 1951 million cum outside the forest area. There is an increase of 262 million cum of total growing stock as compared to the previous assessment which includes an increase of 91 million cum inside the forest and 171 million cum outside the forest area.

The extent of bamboo bearing area for the country has been estimated as 1,54,670sq km. As compared to the last assessment done in 2021 there is an increase of 5,227 sq km in bamboo area.

The total annual potential production of timber from trees outside the forest has been estimated as 91.51 million cum.

In the present assessment, the total carbon stock in the country’s forest is estimated to be 7,285.5 million tonnes. There is an increase of 81.5 million tonnes in the carbon stock of the country as compared to the last assessment.

Regarding the status of achievement of the target under NDC related to carbon sequestration, the current assessment shows that India’s carbon stock has reached 30.43 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent; which indicates that as compared to the base year of 2005, India has already reached 2.29 billion tonnes of additional carbon sink as against the target of 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes by 2030, added the release.

The event was attended by Minister of State (MoS) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh and Secretary of the Ministry Leena Nandan.

Senior officials from the MoEFCC, along with representatives from organisations, including the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Forest Research Institute (FRI), Central Academy for State Forest Service (CASFOS), Indian Remote Sensing Organization (IRO), Botanical Survey of India (BSI), and Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), participated in the program.

The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) is a biennial publication by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) and has been published since 1987. The 2023 report marks the 18th edition of this series. It serves as a critical resource for understanding the country’s forest and tree resources.

The report is based on FSI’s two key activities: Forest Cover Mapping (FCM) and the National Forest Inventory (NFI).

Earlier, Union Minister Yadav, taking to X, shared a “historic” milestone where the MoEFCC conducted the first-ever Ganges River Dolphin tagging in Assam on Wednesday.

“Happy to share the news of the first-ever tagging of Ganges River Dolphin in Assam–a historic milestone for the species and India! This MoEFCC and National CAMPA-funded project, led by the Wildlife Institute of India in collaboration with Assam Forest Dept and Aaranyak, will deepen our understanding of conserving our National Aquatic Animal,” Bhupendra Yadav wrote on X.

According to an official release by MoEFCC, the initiative was implemented by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in collaboration with the Assam Forest Department and Aaranyak, with funding from the National CAMPA Authority.

This is the first tagging, not only in India but also for the species. This milestone marks a significant advancement of Project Dolphin.

A healthy male river dolphin was tagged and released under utmost veterinary care after it was decided to undertake satellite tagging of dolphins. The tagging exercise will help in understanding their seasonal and migratory patterns, range, distribution, and habitat utilization, particularly in fragmented or disturbed river systems, the release stated.