The India State of Forests Report (ISFR) – 2023, released on Saturday, also said that India has achieved an additional carbon sink of 2.29 billion tonnes compared to 2005 levels.
As part of its climate plan or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to meet the Paris Agreement targets, the country has committed to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
According to the report, India has suffered about 93 thousand square kilometers of forest loss from 2011 to 2021.
About 636.5 million tonnes of carbon could be sequestered through density upgrading in degraded areas, it said.
For ISFR – 2023, the government included bamboos and trees with a diameter of 5-10 cm at breast height in the tree cover estimate. It expanded the assessment to 751 districts as against 636 districts in 2021.
Forests and trees together now cover 8,27,357 (8.27 lakh) square kilometers or 25.17 percent of India’s geographical area.
From 2021 to 2023, the forest area increased by only 156.47 square kilometers to 7,15,343 (7.15 lakh) square kilometers (21.76 percent of the geographical area). Tree cover has increased by 1,289 square kilometers and now covers 3.41 percent of the country’s geographical area, the report said.
According to the Forest Survey of India (FSI), forest cover refers to all land with a canopy density of more than 10 percent and covering an area of one hectare or more, regardless of ownership type or legal status.
This includes natural forests as well as man-made plantations, orchards, and trees in urban and rural areas that meet size and canopy density criteria.
Tree cover is defined as patches of trees and isolated trees of less than one hectare outside the RFA.
Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav said the report’s most positive finding is that India has created 2.29 billion tonnes more carbon sinks compared to 2005 levels.
India’s carbon stock is estimated at 7,285.5 million tonnes in 2023, an increase of 81.5 million tonnes over 2021.
The fast-growing South Asian country is estimated to store 31.71 billion tonnes of carbon in forests and trees by 2030.
FSI Director General Anup Singh said that bamboo cover has also been estimated and included in the tree cover.
India’s total bamboo bearing area is now estimated at 1,54,670 (1.54 lakh) sq km, an increase of 5,227 sq km over 2021.
Chhattisgarh recorded the highest increase in forest and tree cover with an increase of 683.62 sq km, followed by Uttar Pradesh (559.19 sq km), Odisha (558.57 sq km) and Rajasthan (394.46 sq km).
The biggest decline was observed in Madhya Pradesh (612.41 sq km), Karnataka (459.36 sq km), Ladakh (159.26 sq km) and Nagaland (125.22 sq km).
Within the RFA, Mizoram has shown the largest increase in forest area with 192.92 sq km, followed by Odisha (118.17 sq km), Karnataka (93.14 sq km), West Bengal (64.79 sq km) and Jharkhand (2.79 sq km).
The largest decline in forest area within the RFA was recorded in Tripura (116.90 sq km), Telangana (105.87 sq km), Assam (86.66 sq km), Andhra Pradesh (83.47 sq km) and Gujarat (61.22 sq km).
Outside the RFA, Gujarat saw the highest increase in forest cover with an increase of 241.29 sq km, followed by Bihar (106.85 sq km), Kerala (95.19 sq km), Uttar Pradesh (79.27 sq km), and Assam (74.90 sq km). ).
The most significant losses outside the RFA were in Madhya Pradesh (344.77 sq km), Rajasthan (110.65 sq km), Andhra Pradesh (55.19 sq km), Arunachal Pradesh (45.32 sq km) and Maharashtra (41.07 sq km).
The FSI also analyzed forest cover changes in the ecologically fragile Western Ghats over the past decade and found an overall loss of 58.22 sq km.
In this region, the Nilgiris reported the largest decline of 123 sq km. The hill range spread across Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu is known for its popular tourist spots.
Earlier this year, a devastating landslide in Kerala’s Wayanad region killed hundreds of people. The Center has been trying to provide legal protection to the ecologically fragile region since 2013 amid opposition from states.
The latest assessment shows that the forest area in the hill districts has increased by 234.14 square kilometers.
The report showed that 327.30 square kilometers of forest area has decreased in the northeastern region.
According to the report, the country’s total mangrove cover is 4,991.68 sq km, which has declined by 7.43 sq km since 2021.
Medium dense forest and open forest categories have declined by 1,043.23 sq km and 2,480.11 sq km, respectively, over the last decade, despite gains in very dense forest.
The report found that between 2011 and 2021, more than 40,709 square kilometers of very dense forest and medium dense forest were reduced to open forest within the RFA.
The government also said that during this period 5 thousand 573 square kilometers of very dense forest, medium dense forest and open forest were cut. The total area of non-forest is 46,707 sq. km comprising very dense forest, medium dense forest, open forest and scrub.
FSI has been assessing forest cover since 1987 and tree cover since 2001.
The National Forest Policy, 1988 mandated that 33 percent of India’s geographical area should be covered by forests or trees.