INDIA STATE OF FOREST REPORT 2021

INDIA STATE OF FOREST REPORT 2021

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has released the India State of Forest Report 2021. It is 17^th survey; the first survey was published in 1987.

In National forest policy 1988, it was aimed that 33% of the total geographical area will be under forest cover.

What is India State of Forest Report (ISFR)?

• This report is published every two years by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) under Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. It contains an assessment of India’s forest and tree cover.
• The report helps in planning and formulation of policies in forest management as well as forestry and agroforestry sectors.
• The Survey report is done in three categories-
  Very dense forests– canopy density over 70%
  moderately dense forests– canopy density 40-70% and 
  Open forests– canopy density 10-40%.

ISFR 2021- Key Features

• First time assessment was done in forest cover in tiger reserves, tiger corridors and the Gir forest (Gujarat) which houses the Asiatic lion.
• As per report, forest cover in tiger corridors has increased by 37.15 sq. km (0.32%) between 2011-2021, but decreased by 22.6 sq. km (0.04%) in tiger reserves. Forest cover has increased in 20 tiger reserves and also decreased in 32 tiger reserves during 2011-2021.
• The report shows an increase in forest cover in Buxa (West Bengal), Anamalai (Tamil Nadu) and Indravati reserves (Chhattisgarh), while the highest losses have been found in Kawal (Telangana), Bhadra (Karnataka) and theSunderbans reserves (West Bengal).

Area Increased/Decreased

• The total 1,540 sq. kilometers forest and tree cover in the country has increased over the past two years. India’s forest cover is now 7, 13,789 sq. kilometers (21.71%) of the country’s geographical area. It was 67% in 2019. It means 0.22% has been increased in 2021.
• Further Tree cover has increased by 721 sq. km. (0.76%) as compared to 2019 report. As per report the total tree cover is 95,748 sq. km.
• States- Andhra Pradesh (647 sq.km.), Telangana (632 sq.km.), and Odisha (537 sq.km.) shown highest increase in forest cover area.
• Northeastern states Arunachal Pradesh (257 sq.km.), Manipur (249 sq.km.), and Nagaland (235 sq.km.) respectively have shown loss in forest.
• Very dense forests are in Arunachal Pradesh, Moderately dense forests in Madhya Pradesh while open forest is also in Madhya Pradesh.

States with Highest Forest Area/cover

Area-wise Rank (most area covered)

1. Madhya Pradesh (77,493 sq. km.)
2. Arunachal Pradesh (66,431 sq. km.)
3. Chhattisgarh (55,717 sq. km.)

Area-wise Rank (least area covered)

1. Haryana (1,603 sq.km.)
2. Punjab (1,847 sq.km.)
3. Goa (2,244 sq.km.)

Percentage-wise Rank (Highest) of its total geographical area

States

1. Mizoram (84.53%)
2. Arunachal Pradesh (79.33%)
3. Meghalaya (76%)

Union Territories

1. Lakshadweep (90.33%)
2. Andaman Nicobar (81.75%)

Mangroves

Mangroves have shown an increase of 17 sq km. India’s total mangrove cover is now 4,992 sq.km, which is 0.15% of total geographical area.

Forest Prone to Fires

• 46% of the forest cover is prone to forest fires. Out of this, 2.81% is extremely prone, 7.85% is very highly prone and 11.51% is highly prone.
• By 2030, 45-64% of forests in India will experience the effects of climate change and rising temperatures.
• Forests in all states (except Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland) will be highly vulnerable climate hot spots. Ladakh (forest cover 0.1-0.2%) is likely to be the most affected.

Total Carbon Stock

• In country’s forests, it is estimated at 7,204 million tonnes, an increase of 79.4 million tonnes compared to 2019.
• Forest carbon stock is the amount of carbon that has been sequestered from the atmosphere and is now stored within the forest ecosystem, mainly within living biomass and soil, and to a lesser extent also in dead wood and litter.

Bamboo Forests

Bamboo forests is 53,336 million culms in 2021 as compared to 13,882 million culms (stems) in 2019.

Terms used with definition

Forest area & Forest cover– Forest area denotes the legal status of the land as per the government records, whereas the term ‘forest cover’ indicates presence of trees over any land form.

Tree cover– It refers all tree patches (<1hac.) occurring outside the recorded forest area. This covers trees in all formations including scattered trees.

Mangrove- A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics and even some temperate coastal areas.

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