The Important facts on Forest Cover in India in 2021

There’s no better occasion than World Environment Day to celebrate Nature around us. Let’s learn some Facts on Forest cover in India on World Environment Day. According to the Forest Survey report 2021 released; an increase of 2,261 sq km in the country’s total forest and tree cover in the last two years happened. Forests, and thus trees, are an essential resource for the survival of life on Earth. Evaluating the nature of forests and monitoring their status is critical for national wealth and prosperity, as well as for the fundamentals of a knowledge economy. Forest Survey of India (FSI), an organization of the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, Government of India, has been monitoring India’s forest and tree resources through periodic assessments and presenting the findings in its biennial publication ‘India State of Forest Report’ since 1989. (ISFR). The first State of the Forest report was published in 1987. ISFR 2021 is the 17th report in the series. Throughout the years, successive reports have presented a consistent, comprehensive, and comparative picture of India’s forests.

10 Important Facts on Forest Cover in India in 2021

1. The state of Mizoram has the highest Forest cover as percentage of geographical area.

2. Madhya Pradesh has the largest Forest cover area-wise.

3. At 22% of geographical area, Forest Area in India has increased bForests, and thus trees, are an essential resource for the survival of life on Earth. Evaluating the nature of forests and monitoring their status is critical for national wealth and prosperity, as well as for the fundamentals of a knowledge economy. Forest Survey of India (FSI), an organization of the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, Government of India, has been monitoring India’s forest and tree resources through periodic assessments and presenting the findings in its biennial publication ‘India State of Forest Report’ since 1989. (ISFR). The first State of the Forest report was published in 1987. ISFR 2021 is the 17th report in the series. Throughout the years, successive reports have presented a consistent, comprehensive, and comparative picture of India’s forests.y about 0.65% in the past 10 years.

4. India is among the top ten nations in the world in terms of the Forest area. But, most of India’s forest is open Forest which is sparse and has thin spread of Trees.

5. Mangrove cover has increased by 54 sq. km to 4975 sq km.

6. Gujarat has the largest area of wetlands within Recorded Forest Area (RFA) in the country followed by West Bengal.

7. India has about 35 billion trees, makin it 28 tress per person. While US has about 700 trees per person.

8. A tree normally generates 20 litres of oxygen in a day.

9. The forest area with density of more than 0.4 are considered good forest area and forest area with less than 0.4 tree density are considered degraded forest.

10.Only 12% of total forest area comes under very dense forest in India.

According to ISFR 17 states/UTs have above 33 percent of the geographical area under forest cover. Out of these states and UTs, 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.