India's tree and forest cover has registered an increase of 1% since 2015, according to the India state of Forest Report (ISFR) 2017 released on February 12, 2018 by the government. According to the report, the total forest cover is 7,08,273 sq km, which is 21.54 per cent of the total geographical area of the country. Forest and tree cover combined is 8,02,088 sq km or 24.39 per cent of the total geographical area.
Releasing the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2017, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr. Harsh Vardhan pointed out that India ranks among the top ten countries of the world in terms of forest area, despite the fact that none of the other 9 countries has a po;ulation density of more than 150 persons per sq km compared to India, which has a population density of 382 persons per sq km. ISFR is released every two years.
The environment ministry said in the latest assessment that very dense forest in India has also increased by 1.36 per cent as compared to 2015. There is an increase of 8,021 sq km (about 80.20 milliion hectare) in the total forest and tree cover of the country, compared to the previous assessment in 2015. The Increase in the forest cover has been observed as 6,778 sq km and that of tree cover as 1,243 sq km.
Much of the increase in forest cover has been observed in very dense forest category. These are known to absorb maximum carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Madhya Pradesh (77,414 sq km) has the largest forest cover in the country in terms of area, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (66,964 sq km) and Chhattisgarh (55,547 sq km). In terms of percentage of forest cover with respect to the total Geographical area. Lakshadweep with (90.33%) has the highest forest cover, followed by Mizoram (86.27%) and Andaman and Nicobar Island (81.73%).
The top five states where maximum forest cover has increased are Andhra Pradesh (2,141 sq km), Karnataka (1,101 sq kms), Kerala (1,043 sq km), Odisha (885 sq km), and Telangana (565 sq km). The five states where forest cover has decreased most are Mizoram (531 sq km), Nagaland (450 sq km), Arunachal Pradesh (190 sq km) Tripura (164 sq km) and Meghalaya (116 sq km).
The survey, which has for the first time assessed water bodies, said that these bodies inside forest cover have increased by 2,647 sq kms during last decade. Maharashtra (432 sq kms), Grjarat (428 sq kms), Madhya Pradesh (389 sq kms) are top three states showing increase in water bodies within forest areas.
The present assessment also reveals that 15 states and union territories have above 33 per cent o0f the geographical area under forest cover. Out of these states and UTs, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, nagaland, meghalaya and Manipur have more than 75% forest cover, wile eight -- Tripura, Goa, Sikkim. Kerala, Uttarakhand, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Chhattisgarh and Assam have forest cover between 33% and 75%. About 40% of the countri's forest cover is present in 9 large contiguous patches of the size of 10,000 sq km or more.
