New Delhi: As per ‘India State of Forest Report 2021,’ forest cover has increased by 2,261 sq km in the country in the past two years.
The report, prepared by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) which has been mandated to assess the forest and tree resources of the country, was released by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Thursday.
Sharing the findings, the Minister informed that the total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectares, which is 24.62 percent of the geographical area of the country. As compared to the assessment of 2019, there is an increase of 2,261 sq km in the total forest and tree cover of the country.
As per the report, an increase in forest cover has been observed in the open forest followed by a very dense forest. Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km) followed by Telangana (632 sq km) and Odisha (537 sq km) are the top three states showing an increase in forest cover.
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 a percentage of total geographical area, the top five States are Mizoram (84.53%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.33%), Meghalaya (76.00%), Manipur (74.34%) and Nagaland (73.90%).
FSI has also observed an increase in mangrove cover. The report suggests that the country has a total of 4,992 sq km under mangrove cover, which is an increase of 17 sq Km as compared to the previous assessment of 2019.
