ISFR Report 2021

Why in News?

Recently, Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change released the ISFR Report 2021 i.e. ‘India State of Forest Report 2021’.

💠According to Forest Survey report 2021, increase of 2,261 sq km in the total forest and tree cover of the country in last two years.

💠ISFR 2021 is the 17^th report.

Who Prepare ISFR?

It is prepared by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) which has been mandated to assess the forest and tree resources of the country.

Major Finding ISFR Report 2021:

💠The total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectare which is 24.62% of the geographical area of the country.

✓As compared to 2019, there is an increase of 2,261 sq km in the total forest and tree cover of the country.

✓Out of this, the increase in the forest cover has been observed as 1,540 sq km and that in tree cover is 721 sq km.

💠Increase in forest cover has been observed in open forest followed by very dense forest.

💠Top three states Increase in forest cover – Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km) followed by Telangana (632 sq km) and Odisha (537 sq km).

💠Area-wise Forest Cover – Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.

💠In Percentage Forest Cover in Top Five States – Mizoram (84.53%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.33%), Meghalaya (76.00%), Manipur (74.34%) and Nagaland (73.90%).

💠17 states/UT’s have above 33 percent of the geographical area under forest cover.

✓Out of these states and UT’s, five states/UTs namely Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Andaman & Nicobar        Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have more than 75 percent forest cover

✓While 12 states/UTs namely Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Goa, Kerala, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Assam, Odisha, have forest cover between 33 percent to 75 percent.

💠Total mangrove cover in the country is 4,992 sq km. An increase of 17 sq Km in mangrove cover has been observed as compared to the previous assessment of 2019.

✓Top three states showing mangrove cover increase are Odisha (8 sq km) followed by Maharashtra (4 sq km) and Karnataka (3 sq km).

💠Total carbon stock in country’s forest is estimated to be 7,204 million tonnes and there an increase of 79.4 million tonnes in the carbon stock of country as compared to the last assessment of 2019.

      ✓The annual increase in the carbon stock is 39.7 million tonnes.

 

New Significant Features of ISFR 2021:

💠FSI freshly started assessment of forest cover in the Tiger Reserves, Corridors and Lion conservation area of India.

✓It helps in assessing the impact of conservation measures and management interventions that have been implemented over the years.

💠Under a new initiative of FSI, where the ‘Above Ground Biomass’ (AGB) has been estimated.

✓FSI, in collaboration with Space Application Centre (SAC), ISRO, Ahmedabad, initiated a special study for estimation of Above Ground Biomass (AGB) at pan-India level, using L- band of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data.

✓It provides AGB map.

💠FSI in collaboration of with Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) Pilani, Goa Campus has performed a study based on ‘Mapping of Climate Change Hotspots in Indian Forests’.

💠Report, provides special thematic information on forest cover such as hill, tribal districts, and north eastern region has also been given separately in the report.

💠It aided valuable information for policy, planning and sustainable management of forest and tree resources in the country.

 

About ISFR:

• It is responsible for assessment and monitoring of the forest resources of the country regularly, published every two years (biennially) by State of Forest Report.
• Established on June 1,1981, the Forest Survey of India succeeded the "Preinvestment Survey of Forest Resources" (PISFR).
• The first ISFR report published in 1987.
• It conducts inventory in forest and non-forest areas and develop database on forest tree resources.
• The ISFR is used in planning and formulation of policies in forest management as well as forestry and agroforestry sectors.
• Three categories of forests are surveyed – very dense forests (canopy density over 70%), moderately dense forests (40-70%) and open forests (10-40%).

 

 Source: PIB