NEWS – The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 was released by Union Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav on December 21, 2023, at the Forest Research Institute in Dehradun. The Forest Survey of India (FSI), which compiles the report, conducts a biennial assessment of the country’s forest and tree resources using remote sensing satellite data and field-based national inventories.

MAJOR FINDINGS FROM THE ISFR 2023

Forest and Tree Cover:

• Total Forest and Tree Cover: 827,357 sq km, which is 25.17% of India’s geographical area.
  • Forest Cover: 715,343 sq km (21.76% of India’s area)
  • Tree Cover: 112,014 sq km (3.41% of India’s area)
• The increase in forest and tree cover from 2021 is 1445 sq km, with a 156 sq km increase in forest cover and a 1289 sq km increase in tree cover.

Top States in Forest and Tree Cover Increase:

• Chhattisgarh: +684 sq km
• Uttar Pradesh: +559 sq km
• Odisha: +559 sq km
• Rajasthan: +394 sq km

Top States in Forest Cover Increase:

• Mizoram: +242 sq km
• Gujarat: +180 sq km
• Odisha: +152 sq km

States with Largest Forest and Tree Cover:

• Madhya Pradesh: 85,724 sq km
• Arunachal Pradesh: 67,083 sq km
• Maharashtra: 65,383 sq km

States with Largest Forest Cover:

• Madhya Pradesh: 77,073 sq km
• Arunachal Pradesh: 65,882 sq km
• Chhattisgarh: 55,812 sq km

Percentage of Forest Cover:

• Lakshadweep has the highest forest cover at 91.33%, followed by Mizoram (85.34%) and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (81.62%).
• 19 states/UTs have more than 33% of their geographical area under forest cover, with 8 states/UTs (Mizoram, Lakshadweep, A & N Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Manipur) having over 75% forest cover.

Other Key Findings:

• Mangrove Cover: 4,992 sq km
• Growing Stock: 6,430 million cubic meters (with a 262 million cubic meter increase from the previous assessment).
• Bamboo Bearing Area: 154,670 sq km (with an increase of 5,227 sq km).
• Carbon Stock: 7,285.5 million tonnes, an increase of 81.5 million tonnes. India’s carbon stock now reaches 30.43 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent, surpassing its 2030 target by 2.29 billion tonnes.