India State of Forest Report 2023

18th India State of Forest
Report 2023:

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

• The ISFR is brought out by the Forest
  Survey of India (FSI) on a biennial basis since 1987.
• FSI report based on interpretation of
  Remote Sensing satellite data and field based National Forest Inventory
  (NFI), and the results are published in the ISFR.

ISFR Report 2023

Key Points of the ISFR 2023:

• 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.
• As per the present report, the total
  Forest and Tree cover is 8,27,357sq km, which is 25.17 percent of the
  geographical area of the country.
• The Forest Cover has an area of about
  7,15,343sq km (21.76%) whereas the Tree Cover has an area of 1,12,014
  sq km (3.41%).
• As compared to 2021, there is an increase of
  1445 sq km in the forest and tree cover of the country which includes
  156 sq km increase in the forest cover and 1289 sq km increase in tree cover.

Highlights of ISFR 2023 vs. ISFR 2021

Particulars	ISFR 2023	ISFR 2021
Total Forest and Tree Cover	25.17% (8,27,357 sq km)	24.62%
Net Forest Cover	21.76% (7,15,343 sq km)	21.71%
Net Tree Cover	3.41% (1,12,014 sq km)	2.91%
Mangrove Cover	4,992 sq km	4,999 sq km

Top States by Forest and Tree Cover

Largest Forest and Tree Cover
(Area-Wise)

1.      Madhya
Pradesh: 85,724 sq km

2.      Arunachal
Pradesh: 67,083 sq km

3.      Maharashtra:
65,383 sq km

Largest Forest and Tree Cover
(Percentage-Wise)

1.      Lakshadweep:
92%

2.      Mizoram:
88.03%

3.      Andaman
& Nicobar Islands: 81.95%

Largest Forest Cover (Area-Wise)

1.      Madhya
Pradesh: 77,073 sq km

2.      Arunachal
Pradesh: 65,882 sq km

3.      Chhattisgarh:
55,831 sq km

Largest Forest Cover (Percentage-Wise)

1.      Lakshadweep:
91.33%

2.      Mizoram:
85.34%

3.      Andaman
& Nicobar Islands: 81.62%

Largest Tree Cover (Area-Wise)

1.      Maharashtra:
14,525 sq km

2.      Rajasthan:
10,841 sq km

3.      Uttar
Pradesh: 8,951 sq km

Largest Tree Cover (Percentage-Wise)

1.      Chandigarh:
18.58%

2.      Delhi:
11.87%

3.      Kerala:
7.48%

Trends in Forest and Tree Cover

States with Maximum Increase

·        
Chhattisgarh: 683.62 sq km

·        
Uttar Pradesh: 559.19 sq km

·        
Odisha: 558.57 sq km

·        
Rajasthan: 394.46 sq km

States with Maximum Decrease

·        
Madhya Pradesh: −612.41 sq km

·        
Karnataka: −459.36 sq km

·        
Ladakh: −159.26 sq km

·        
Nagaland: −125.22 sq km

Mangrove Cover

·        
Total Mangrove Cover: 4,992 sq
km (0.15% of India’s total geographical area).

·        
Change Since 2021: Decrease of
7.43 sq km.

·        
Top States with Mangrove Cover:

1.      West
Bengal

2.      Gujarat

3.      Andaman
& Nicobar Islands

Interesting Observation: Except for Gujarat and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, all other regions recorded an increase in mangrove cover.

Regional Performance and Trends

States with More Than 33%
Forest Cover

·        
19 States/UTs, including Mizoram, Lakshadweep,
Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland.

Northeastern Region

·        
Forest and tree cover: 67% of the geographical
area.

·        
Declining Trend: All
Northeastern states except Mizoram (increase of 178 sq km) recorded a reduction
in forest cover.

Western Ghats

·        
First-time assessment revealed a loss of
58.22 sq km of forest cover in the eco-sensitive areas since 2013.

Concerns: Disappearance of Dense Forests

·        
Loss Since 2021: 3,913 sq km.

·        
Loss Over Two Decades (Since 2003): 24,651
sq km (over 6.3% of dense forests).

Bamboo Bearing Area

·        
Total Bamboo Area: 1,54,670 sq km
(increase of 5,227 sq km since 2021).

·        
Top States: Madhya Pradesh >
Arunachal Pradesh > Maharashtra > Odisha.

India’s Carbon Stock

·        
Total Carbon Stock: 30.43 billion tonnes
of CO2 equivalent.

·        
India’s Achievement: 2.29 billion tonnes of
additional carbon sink created since 2005, progressing towards the target of
2.5-3.0 billion tonnes by 2030.

ISFR 2023 reports 25.17% forest and tree
cover in India, with increases in forest area, bamboo, and carbon stock,
highlighting progress toward carbon sequestration targets and environmental
sustainability.

Some Key terms and definitions from the India State of Forest Report (ISFR): Forest cover: Land with a tree canopy density of more than 10% and an area of at least one hectare. This includes orchards, bamboo, palm, and plantations.  Recorded forest area: The geographic areas recorded as forests in government records. This includes reserved forests (RF) and protected forests (PF).  Tree cover: All tree patches outside the recorded forest area that are less than one hectare in size.  Dense forest: Areas with a canopy density of 40% or more.  Very dense forest: Lands with a canopy density of 70% or more.  Open forest: Lands with a canopy density between 10% and 40%.  Trees outside forest: All trees growing outside recorded forest areas, regardless of patch size.  Scrub: Degraded forest lands with a canopy density of less than 10%.  Pure bamboo: An area with a bamboo density of 200 or more bamboo clumps per hectare.  Scattered bamboo: An area with a bamboo density of 1–50 bamboo clumps per hectare.  The ISFR is a comprehensive report on the forests and trees in India, published by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC). The first ISFR was published in 1987.

UPSC Civil Services Examination Previous Year’s Questions (PYQs)  UPSC PYQs Prelims Q. Consider the following States: (2019) Chhattisgarh Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Odisha With reference to the States mentioned above, in terms of percentage of forest cover to the total area of State, which one of the following is the correct ascending order?  (a) 2-3-1-4   (b) 2-3-4-1  (c) 3-2-4-1   (d) 3-2-1-4  Answer: (c) Q. A particular State in India has the following characteristics: (2012)  It is located on the same latitude which passes through northern Rajasthan. It has over 80% of its area under forest cover. Over 12% of forest cover constitutes Protected Area Network in this State. Which one among the following States has all the above characteristics? (a) Arunachal Pradesh   b) Assam (c) Himachal Pradesh   (d) Uttarakhand  Answer: (a) UPSC PYQ Mains  Q. Examine the status of forest resources of India and its resultant impact on climate change (2020).  Q. Discuss the causes of depletion of mangroves and explain their importance in maintaining coastal ecology (2019)