India State of forest report

Current Context : Recently, the Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change released the ‘India State of Forest Report 2023 (ISFR 2023) at Forest Research Institute, Dehradun.

About India State of Forest Report: 

Published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) on a biennial basis since 1987; this is the 18th report.

• It carries out an in-depth assessment of the forest and tree resources of the country based on interpretation of Remote Sensing satellite data and field based National Forest Inventory (NFI).
• The report contains information on forest cover, tree cover, mangrove cover, growing stock, carbon stock in India’s forests, instances of forest fire, Agroforestry, etc.

Relevant data of Forest Report 2023

• Forest and Tree Cover: Constitutes 25.17% of India’s geographical area (21.76% forest cover, 3.41% tree cover).
• Increase Since 2021: Net gain of 1,445.81 sq km in forest and tree cover.
• Top States (Increase):
• Forest and Tree Cover: Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan.
• Forest Cover: Mizoram, Gujarat, Odisha.
• Largest Forest and Tree Cover (Area-wise):Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra.
• Highest Percentage of Forest Cover:Lakshadweep (91.33%), followed by Mizoram and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• Mangrove Cover:Total 4,992 sq km; a slight decline of 7.43 sq km since 2021.
• Bamboo Bearing Area:Increased compared to 2021.

Carbon Stock: 7,285.5 million tonnes, with a total carbon sink of 30.43 billion tonnes CO₂ equivalent.