India State of Forest Report 2023

Why in the NEWS?

• Recently, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupendra Yadav released the 'India Forest Status Report 2023' at the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun.
• Since 1987, the Forest Survey of India has been publishing the India Forest Status Report on a biennial basis.
• India Forest Status Report 2023 is the 18th report in this series.
• Information included in the report:
  • Forest cover, tree cover, mangrove cover, carbon stock in Indian forests, incidence of forest fires, agroforestry.
• As per the current assessment,
  • Total forest and tree cover is 8,27,357 sq. km., which is 25.17 percent of the geographical area of ​​the country.
  • The area under forest cover is about 7,15,343 sq. km. (21.76 percent).
  • The area under tree cover is 1,12,014 sq. km. (3.41 percent).
  • As compared to the year 2021, the total forest and tree cover of the country has increased by 1445 sq. km.
  • This includes an increase of 156 sq. km. in forest cover and 1289 sq. km. in tree cover.
• Top four states showing maximum increase in forest and tree cover are-
  • Chhattisgarh (684 sq. km.)
  • Uttar Pradesh (559 sq. km.)
  • Odisha (559 sq. km.)
  • Rajasthan (394 sq. km.)
• Top three states showing maximum increase in forest cover are-
  • Mizoram (242 sq. km.)
  • Gujarat (180 sq. km.)
  • Odisha (152 sq. km.)
• Top three states with maximum forest and tree cover in terms of area are-
  • Madhya Pradesh (85,724 sq. km.)
  • Arunachal Pradesh (67,083 sq. km.)
  • Maharashtra (65,383 sq. km.)
• Top three states showing maximum forest and tree cover in terms of percentage are-
  • Chhattisgarh (684 sq. km.)
  • Uttar Pradesh (559 sq. km.)
  • Odisha (394 sq. km.)
• Top three states showing maximum forest and tree cover in terms of area are-
  • Mizoram (242 sq. km.)
  • Gujarat (180 sq. km.)
  • Odisha (152 sq. km.) 
• The top three states with tree cover are
  • Lakshadweep (91.33 percent)
  • Mizoram (85.34 percent)
  • Andaman & Nicobar Islands (81.62 percent)
• 19 States/UTs have more than 33 percent of geographical area under forest cover.
• Out of these, eight States/UTs-
  • Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Manipur have more than 75 percent forest cover.
• Total mangrove cover is 4,992 sq. km.
• The extent of bamboo bearing area in the country has been estimated at 1,54,670 sq. km.
• Bamboo area has increased by 5,227 sq. km as compared to the previous assessment done in the year 2021.
• Total annual potential production of industrial wood from ex-forest trees has been estimated at 91.51 million cubic meters.
• Total carbon stock in forests has been estimated at 7,285.5 million tonnes.
• The country's carbon stock has increased by 81.5 million tonnes as compared to the previous assessment.
• India's carbon stock has reached 30.43 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent
• This shows that India has already reached 2.29 billion tonnes of additional carbon sink as compared to the base year of the year 2005.
• While the target has been set at 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes by the year 2030.