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.
