Forest Survey Report

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

Area-wise Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country
Maximum increase in forest cover witnessed in Andhra Pradesh (647 sq. km) followed by Telangana (632 sq. km) and Odisha (537 sq. km).
17 states/UT’s have above 33 percent of the geographical area under forest cover.
Total carbon stock in country’s forest is estimated to be 7,204 million tonnes, an increase of 79.4 million
Total mangrove cover in the country is 4,992 sq. km, an increase of 17 sq. Km observed

The total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectare which is 24.62 percent of the geographical area of the country.
Increase in forest cover has been observed in open forest followed by very dense forest. Top three states showing increase in forest cover are Andhra Pradesh (647 sq. km) followed by Telangana (632 sq. km) and Odisha (537 sq. km).
Area-wise Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
In terms of forest cover as percentage of total geographical area, the top five States are Mizoram (84.53%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.33%), Meghalaya (76.00%), Manipur (74.34%) and Nagaland (73.90%).

In tune with the Government of India’s vision of digital India and the need for integration of digital data sets, FSI has adopted using the vector boundary layers of various administrative units up to districts level as provided by Survey of India along with digital open series topo sheets, in order to ensure comprehensive compatibility with the geographical areas as reported in Census, 2011.

In the present ISFR 2021, FSI has included a new chapter related to the assessment of forest cover in the Tiger Reserves, Corridors and Lion conservation area of India.
A new initiative of FSI has also been documented in the form of a chapter, where the ‘Above Ground Biomass’ 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
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’.

Source: THE HINDU.