India’s Forest Cover

Udayan Hazarika

(The writer can be reached at udayanhazarika@hotmail.com)

The Forest Survey of India (FSI) under the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change has recently released (21-12-2024) their India State of Forest Report 2023 (ISFR-23). This is the 18th report in a row containing the findings of the biennial survey conducted after 2021. The report recorded that India’s forest cover has registered a moderate rise since the last assessment made in 2021, from 7.14 lakh square km to 8.27 lakh square km in the 2023 assessment. The rise is almost 15.82 percent over the last assessment. In 2021 the total forest cover comprised 21.71 percent of the total geographical area of the country, which increased to 25.27 percent in 2023. In the 2021 study, forest areas were divided into three categories, namely very dense forest (VDF), having an area of 99,779 sq. km; moderately dense forest (MDF), having an area of 306,890 sq. km (9.33 percent); and open forest (OF), having an area of 307,120 sq. km (9.34 percent of the total geographical areas). However, the 2023 survey has simplified the categorisation to only forest cover and tree cover. To get the area of forest cover, the study has added up the total of VDF, MDF, and OF grown both inside and outside the recorded forest area along with green wash (gw) as recorded in the Survey of India map in green colour. As per the assessment of 2023, forest cover comprises 21.76% (with 7.15 lakh sq. km), while tree cover comprises 3.41% (with 1.12 lakh sq. km). There has been a marginal decline in scrub from 46,539 sq. km, covering 1.42% of the total country area, to 43,623 sq. km in 2023, covering 1.33 percent. Scrub is a type of forest land having canopy density less than 10 percent, generally with shrubs interspersed with trees. Similarly, the decline in the case of non-forest area was marginal, from 25,27,141 sq. km (76.87%) to 24,16,289 sq. km (73.50%). The term forest area as used by the 2023 survey has the same meaning as that of the 2021 survey, i.e., the area under very dense forest, moderately dense forest, and open forest. On the other hand, the second component tree cover is used to indicate the areas of tree patches outside the forest area that are less than one hectare in extent, including all the scattered trees found in the rural and urban settings.

The latest survey has converted the data of the 2021 survey to a comparable level of forest area and tree area. This makes it easier to compare the position of the forest area with reference to the Indian states. Of the total 36 states for which data are available, in the case of 22 states, the forest cover has declined during the intervening period between the 2021 survey and the 2023 survey. Major loss of forest cover has occurred in the case of Madhya Pradesh (371.54 km²), Andhra Pradesh (138.66 km²), Telangana (100.42 km²), Tripura (95.31 km²), and Arunachal Pradesh (91.17 km²). In the case of the remaining 14 states, major gains have been accrued through the states of Mizoram (241.73 sq. km), Gujarat (180.07 sq. km), Odisha (151.89 sq. km), Karnataka (147.70 sq. km), and Kerala (133.42 sq. km). The total gain recorded during the 2023 survey over the 2021 was to the tune of 156.41 sq. km. The assessment of 2023 shows that taking forest and tree cover together, the maximum increase occurs in the case of Chhattisgarh (683.62 sq. km), followed by Uttar Pradesh (559.19 sq. km), Odisha (558.57 sq. km), and Rajasthan with 394.46 sq. km. On the other hand, the maximum decline occurred in respect of Madhya Pradesh (612.41 sq. km), followed by Karnataka (459.36 sq. km), Ladakh (159.26 sq. km), and Nagaland with 125.22 sq. km.

The findings of the 2021 survey show that Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country, at 86336 sq. km. The State maintained its position intact in 2023 also, although there was a marginal fall in the area of forest land to 85723.58 sq. km. Arunachal Pradesh was in second position in the 2021 survey with 67136 sq. km, which fell marginally to 67083 sq. km in 2023. Maharashtra was in third position with forest area coverage of 65327 sq. km in 2021, which rose marginally to 65383 sq. km in 2023. Chhattisgarh was in fourth position in 2021, with forest land having an area of 61667 sq. km, which rose to 62350 sq. km in 2023. While Odisha was in fifth position with an area of forest land to the tune of 58036 sq. km, which rose to 58597 sq. km in the 2023 assessment. In all the above cases, the position of the states remains unchanged despite changes in the area coverage under forest.

The report also highlighted the performance of Northeastern states in protecting the green cover in each of the states separately. The total forest and tree cover in the eight northeastern states stretched to 174,394.70 sq. km, which is 66.52 percent of the total geographical area of the Northeast. The state having the largest forest cover in the NE region is Arunachal Pradesh, with 67083.20 sq. km, followed by Assam with 30415 sq. km. Amongst all the eight NE States, only Mizoram and Sikkim have recorded an addition to their forest area since the last survey in 2021, which is to the tune of 178.42 sq. km and 02.88 sq. km, respectively. In respect of the remaining states, the highest decline can be observed in the case of Nagaland with 125.22 sq. km, followed by Tripura 100.70 sq. km, Meghalaya 84.07 sq. km, and Assam 83.97 sq. km. In terms of percentage of coverage of geographical area by forests, Mizoram recorded the largest proportion with 88.03 percent, followed by Arunachal Pradesh with 80.11 percent, Meghalaya 78.86 percent, Nagaland 76.10 percent, Manipur 75.22 percent, Tripura with 74.70 percent, and Assam with 38.78 percent—the lowest among all the northeastern states. However, in absolute terms, i.e., in terms of the area coverage by forest land, the position of Assam remained 8th through both the assessments of 2021 and 2023.