Nagaland among 8 states with over 75% forest cover

Published on Dec 21, 2024

By Reyivolü Rhakho

Representational image (EM Images)
KOHIMA — Eight states in India, including Nagaland, have a forest cover above 75%, according to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 released on Saturday.
The ISF assessment revealed that 19 states and union territories have more than 33% of their respective geographical areas under forest cover.
Out of these, eight states/UTs, namely Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Manipur, have forest cover above 75%.
Union Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, released the ISFR 2023 at the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun.
The report showed that the total forest and tree cover of the country is 8,27,357 sq km, which is 25.17% 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.
There is an increase of 1445 sq km in the forest and tree cover of the country, which includes a 156 sq km increase in the forest cover and a 1289 sq km increase in tree cover, compared to the assessment of 2021, the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change stated.
The report showed that the top four states showing maximum increase in forest and tree cover were Chhattisgarh (684 sq km), Uttar Pradesh (559 sq km), Odisha (559 sq km), and Rajasthan (394 sq km).
In terms of percentage of forest cover with respect to total geographical area, Lakshadweep (91.33%) has the highest forest cover, followed by Mizoram (85.34%) and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands (81.62%), the report revealed.
The total mangrove cover in the country is 4,992 sq km.
The total growing stock of India’s forests and trees outside forests is estimated at 6430 million cubic metres, of which 4479 million cubic metres are inside the forests and 1951 million cubic metres outside the forest area.
There is an increase of 262 million cubic metres of total growing stock as compared to the previous assessment, which includes an increase of 91 million cubic metres inside the forest and 171 million cubic metres outside the forest area.
The extent of bamboo-bearing area in the country has been estimated as 1,54,670 sq km.

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 forest has been estimated as 91.51 million cubic metres.
In the present assessment, 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.

India State of Forest Report Nagaland forest cover

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Nagaland Districts

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Nagaland among 8 states with over 75% forest cover