Forest Cover of India

India State of Forest Report (ISFR)

• The Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change presented the India State of Forest Report of 2021 in Lok Sabha, amidst contradictions with Global Forest Watch data.
• ISFR: An assessment of forest cover and tree cover (small patches outside forests) conducted biennially by the Forest Survey of India (FSI).
  • First survey published in 1987; the 2021 report is the 17th report.

Forest Survey of India (FSI)

• Established: 1981, to assess and monitor India’s forest resources.
• Headquarters: Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
• Functions: Under the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEFCC), FSI collects, compiles, stores, and disseminates forest resource data, supporting state and union territory forest departments in conducting surveys, mapping, and inventory assessments.

Features of the 2021 Report

• Includes a new chapter on the assessment of forest cover in Tiger Reserves, Corridors, and Lion conservation areas in India.
• Estimates the ‘Above Ground Biomass’ (vegetation above ground, such as stumps, trees, deadwood, litter, and foliage).

Findings of the Report

• Global Position: India has the tenth-largest forest area in the world, with Russia being the largest.
• Annual Gain: India ranks third globally in terms of average annual net gain in forest area, with an increase of 2,261 sq km in total forest and tree cover from 2019.
• Total Area: India’s forests and tree cover span 80.9 million hectares, which is 24.62% of its geographical area.
• State-wise Forest Cover:
  • Largest: Madhya Pradesh, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Maharashtra.
  • Highest Percentage: Mizoram (84.53%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.33%), Meghalaya (76.00%), Manipur (74.34%), and Nagaland (73.90%).
  • Top Five States (Increase): Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km), Telangana (632 sq km), Odisha (537 sq km), Karnataka (155 sq km), and Jharkhand (110 sq km).
• Additional Findings:
  • Increase in total mangrove cover and bamboo stock.
  • The country’s carbon stock increased by 79.4 million tonnes, totalling 7,204 million tonnes.

Global Forest Watch

• Description: An open-source web application by the Washington-based nonprofit research organization, World Resources Institute (WRI), to monitor global forests in near real-time.
• Key Data:
  • India experienced a tree cover loss of 2.33 million hectares since 2000.
  • 95% of India’s tree cover loss between 2013 and 2023 occurred within natural forests.
  • Despite emitting 51 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually between 2001 and 2022, Indian forests acted as a net carbon sink, absorbing 89.9 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually in the same period.