India State of Forest Report 2021 PDF: Highlights

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India State of Forest Report 2021 PDF can be downloaded from the given link at the end of this post. This post highlights the important points of the recently published “India State of Forest Report 2021″. This is a biennial report which is published by the Forest Survey of India. This is a very important topic for various competitive exams for the next two years.

Introduction

Forest Cover refers to the extent of land area that is covered by forest resources in the country.

Forest Survey of India (FSI) undertook an assessment of the Forest Cover of the country for the first time in the year 1987.

▪ Till 2019,  16 cycles have been completed and the current assessment (2021) is the 17th in the series of continuous Forest Cover mapping in the country.

▪ The National Forest Policy envisages 33% of the nation’s area to be under forest and tree cover.

Which type of land covers under “Forest Cover Assessment?”

All lands more than 1 hectare in an area with a tree canopy density of more than 10 percent, including tree orchards, bamboo, palms, etc.

▪ Recorded forest and other government lands.
▪ Private community or institutional lands.

Who Published the Forest Cover Report

Bhupendar Yadav, Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change minister released the India State of Forest Report 2021′.

▪ The biennial report is prepared by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), which has been liable to assess the forest and tree resources of the country.

About Forest Survey of India (FSI)

▪ FSI was founded in – June 1981
▪ Headquarters – Dehradun in Uttarakhand
▪ Director General – Shri Pankaj Agarwal
▪ Parent organization – Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India

▪ The Forest Survey of India is responsible for conducting forest surveys, studies, and research in order to periodically monitor changes in land and forest resources. This data is presented for national planning, conservation, and sustainable management of environmental protection, as well as for the implementation of social forestry projects.

The report Provide Information on

  • Forest Cover
  • Tree Cover
  • Mangrove Cover
  • Bamboo Cover
  • Carbon Stock in India’s Forests
  • Forest fire monitoring
  • Forest cover in Tiger Reserve areas
  • Estimation of Biomass
  • About climate change hotspots in Indian Forests.

Forest Cover Classified in Terms of Canopy Density Classes

ClassDescription
Very Dense ForestAll lands with tree canopy  density of 70 percent and above
Moderately Dense  ForestAll lands with tree canopy density of 40% and more but less than 70%
Open ForestAll lands with tree canopy density of 10% and more but less than 40%
ScrubForest lands with a canopy density of less than 10%
Non-forestLands not included in any of the above classes (including water)

Tree and  Forest Cover in India

▪ The Total Forest Cover of the country, as per the current assessment is 713789 sq km which is 21.71% of the total geographic area of the country.

▪ The tree and forest cover in the country include an increase of 1540 sq km of forest cover and 721 sq km of tree cover compared to the 2019 report

▪ The forest and tree cover in India has risen by 2,261 square kilometers (0.28%) in the last two years which showed Andhra Pradesh growing the maximum forest cover of 647 square km.

▪ According to the report, India’s total forest and tree cover is now spread across 80.9 million hectares, which is 24.62% of the geographical area of the country.

ClassArea(sq km)Percentage  of Geographical Area
Very  Dense Forest997793.04
Moderately  Dense Forest3068909.33
Open Forest3071209.34
Total Forest Cover71378921.71
Total Tree Cover957482.91
Non-Forest area252714176.87
Total Geographical Area  –  3287469

 

Total Tree and Forest  Cover – 24.62%

Forest Cover in States and Union Territories

Forest Cover in terms of area (Top 5 States)

RankStateArea (sq km)
1Madhya Pradesh77493
2Arunachal Pradesh66431
3Chhattisgarh55717
4Odisha52156
5Maharashtra50798

Forest Cover in terms of percentage of geographical area (Top 5 States)

RankStatePercentage
1Mizoram84.50%
2Arunachal Pradesh79.33%
3Meghalaya76%
4Manipur74.34%
5Nagaland73.90%

Forest Cover in terms of percentage of geographical area (Top 3 Union territories )

RankUTPercentage
1Lakshadweep90.30%
2Andaman & Nicobar Islands81.80%
3Jammu & Kashmir39.15%

Forest Cover in terms of percentage of geographical area (Bottom 3 States)

RankStatePercentage
1Haryana3.6%
2Punjab3.7%
3Rajasthan4.9%

Forest Cover in terms of percentage of geographical area (Bottom 3 Union territories )

RankStatePercentage
1Ladakh1.35%
2Puducherry10.9%
3Delhi13.2%

Top 5 states in terms of increase in forest cover area

RankStateIncrease in Area (sq km)
1Andhra Pradesh647
2Telangana632
3Odisha537
4Karnataka155
5Jharkhand110

Mangrove Cover

Status of Mangrove Cover Worldwide

▪ As per Global Forest Resource Assessment, 2020 (FRA 2020), the world over, 113 countries have Mangrove forests covering an estimated 14.79 million hectares.

Largest Mangrove area reported in Asia (5.55 million hectares), followed by Africa (3.24 million hectares) North and Central America (2.57 million hectares), and South America (2.13 million hectares).

Oceania has reported the smallest area of Mangroves (1.30 million hectares)

▪ More than 40% of the total area of Mangroves was reported to be in just four countries: Indonesia (19) Brazil (9) Nigeria (7) Mexico (6)

Mangrove Cover 2021 in India

Mangrove cover in the country is 4,992 sq km, which is 0.15% of the country’s total geographical area.

▪ Very Dense Mangrove comprises 1475 sq km (29.55%)
▪ Moderately Dense Mangrove is 1481 sq km (29.67%)
▪ Open Mangroves constitute an area of 2036 sq km (40.78%)

Net increase of 17 sq km in the Mangrove cover of the country as compared to 2019.

Significant gain in mangrove Odisha (8 sq km) and Maharashtra (4 sq km).

Top 3 States in terms of Mangrove area

RankStateArea (Sq km)
1West Bengal2114
2Gujarat1175
3Andhra Pradesh405

Top 3 Union Territories in terms of Mangrove area

RankUTArea (Sq km)
1Andaman & Nicobar Islands616
2Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu3
3Puducherry2

Bottom States in terms of Mangrove area

RankStateArea (Sq km)
1Kerala9
2Karnataka13
3Goa27

Bamboo Cover of India

▪ The total bamboo-bearing area of the country has been estimated to be 15.0 million hectares.
▪ As compared to the estimates of ISFR 2019, the total bamboo-bearing area in the country has decreased by 1.06 million ha.

Mizoram has shown the highest increase of 1085 sq km followed by Arunachal Pradesh (758 sq km)

Madhya Pradesh has shown the highest decrease of 2473 sq km in the bamboo-bearing area followed by Maharashtra (1882 sq km)

 Top 3 states in terms of Area

RankStateArea (million Hectare)
1Madhya Pradesh1.84
2Arunachal Pradesh1.57
3Maharashtra1.35

Source: Forest  Survey of India 

India State of Forest Report 2021 PDF: Download Here

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