Categories: Current AffairsNational

21.71% Of Country’s Area Under Forest Cover: MoS Kirti Vardhan Singh

Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, an organization under the Ministry carries out the assessment of forest cover biennially. As per the latest India State of Forest Report (ISFR) published in 2021, the total forest cover of the country is 7,13,789 square kilometer which is 21.71% of the geographical area of the country. The State/UTs wise details of forest cover as per ISFR, since 2019 are given in Annexure.

Tree covered in India

The tree cover increased by 721 square kilometer during 2019 to 2021. There is no loss of tree cover during 2019 and 2021. Therefore, the question of increase in emission of carbon dioxide due to loss of tree cover does not arise.

Contradiction between ISFR and GFW data

The contradictions between India State of Forest Report 2021 and Global Forest Watch data may be because of the differences in the definition of forest cover and tree cover adopted in these two reports. At present there in no plan to amend the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhniyam, 1980.

Top 10 state of forest cover in India:

Sl. No.	States/UTs	ISFR 2019	ISFR 2021
1	Andhra Pradesh	29,137	29,784
2	Arunachal Pradesh	66,688	66,431
3	Assam	28,327	28,312
4	Bihar	7,306	7,381
5	Chhattisgarh	55,611	55,717
6	Delhi	195	195
7	Goa	2,237	2,244
8	Gujarat	14,857	14,926
9	Haryana	1,602	1,603
10	Himachal Pradesh	15,434	15,443