Geography

India State of Forest Report 2019

By Examguru / 06 Oct, 2023 / Download PDF

India State of Forest Report 2019

  • On December 31, 2019 the biennial "India State of Forest Report (ISFR)", published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) was released. Starting from 1987, 16 assessments have been completed so far. ISFR 2019 is the 16th report in the series.
  • The total forest cover of the country is 7,12,249 sq km which is 21.67% of the geographical area of the country. The tree cover of the country is estimated as 95,027 sq km which is 2.89% of the geographical area.
  • The total forest and tree cover of the country is 8,07,276 sq km which is 24.56% of the geographical area of the country.

India’s Green Cover up by 13,000 Sq. km in Five Years

  • India's greencover (the tree cover both inside and outside the forest) has increased 13,000 square km in the last five years, India is among two-three countries in the world where the green cover has increased.
  • As compared to the assessment of 2017, there is an increase of 5,188 sq. km in the total forest and tree cover of the country. Out of this, the increase in the forest cover has been observed as 3,976 sq km and that in tree cover is 1,212 sq. km.
  • The top five States in terms of increase in forest cover are Karnataka (1,025 sq km), Andhra Pradesh (990 sq km), Kerala (823 sq km), Jammu & Kashmir (371 sq km) and Himachal Pradesh (334 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 percentage of total geographical area, the top five States are Mizoram (85.41%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.63%), Meghalaya (76.33%), Manipur (75.46%) and Nagaland (75.31%).
  • The Mangrove ecosystems are unique & rich in biodiversity and they provide numerous ecological services. Mangrove cover has been separately reported in the ISFR 2019 and the total mangrove cover in the country is 4,975 sq km. Top three states showing mangrove cover increase are Gujarat (37 sqkm) followed by Maharashtra (16 sq km) and Odisha (8 sq km).
  • The total growing stock of wood in India is estimated 5,915.76 million cum of which 4,273.47 million cum is inside the forests and 1,642.29 million cum out-side.
  • The extent of bamboo bearing area of the country has been estimated 16.00 million hectare.
  • Under the current assessment the total carbon stock in country's forest is estimated 7,124.6 million tonnes. The annual increase in the carbon stock is 21.3 million tonnes, which is 78.2 million tonnes CO2 eq.
  • Wetlands within forest areas form important ecosystems and add richness to the biodiversity in forest areas, both of faunal and floral species. There are 62,466 wetlands covering 3.8% of the area within the RFA/GW of the country.

Forest Cover: 2021 Assessment

  • The Forest Cover of the country has been classified and mapped into three canopy density classes viz. Very Dense Forest (VDF), Moderately Dense Forest (MDF) and Open Forest (OF). In addition to the three density classes, scrub areas, which are not part of Forest Cover, have also been classified and mapped.
  • The total Forest Cover of the country, as per the curent assessment is 7,13,789 sq km which is 21.71% of the total geographic area of the country.
  • In terms of canopy density classes, area covered by VDF is 99,779 sq km (3.04%), MDF is 3,06,890 sq km (9.33%) and OF is 3,07,120 sq km (9.34%).
  • In the current assessment, Very Dense Forest and Moderately Dense Forest together constitute 57% of the total Forest Cover of the country.

Forest and Tree Cover of India in 2021

Class

Area ( In sq km)

Percentage of Geographical Area

Very Dense Forest (VDF)

99,779

3.04

Moderately Dense Forest (MDF)

3,06,890

9.33

Open Forest

3,07,120

9.34

Total Forest Cover

7,13,789

21.71

Scrub

46,539

1.42

Non-Forest

25,27,141

76.87

Total Geographical Area

32,87,469

100

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