Andhra Pradesh and Telangana top in increasing forest cover

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are at the top in increasing the forest cover, according to the India State of Forest Report 2021 released by Union minister for environment, forest and climate change, Bhupender Yadav.
The total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectare, which is 24.62 per cent of the geographical area of the country. As compared to the assessment of 2019, there is an increase of 2,261 sq km in the total forest and tree cover of the country.As many as 17 states/UT’s have above 33 per cent of the geographical area under forest cover. The report was prepared by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) which has been mandated to assess the forest and tree resources of the country.
The forest survey report 2021 shows an increase of 2,261 sq km in the total forest and tree cover of the country in the last two years. Area-wise Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country.
The maximum increase in forest cover was seen in Andhra Pradesh of 647 sq km followed by Telangana with 632 sq km and Odisha with 537 sq km.
The total carbon stock in the country's forest is estimated to be 7,204 million tonnes, which is an increase of 79.4 million tonnes. The ISFR-2021 provides information on forest cover, tree cover, mangrove cover, growing stock, carbon stock in India’s forests, forest fire monitoring, forest cover in tiger reserve areas, above ground estimates of biomass using SAR data & climate change hotspots in Indian forests.
The total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectare which is 24.62 per cent of the geographical area of the country. As compared to the assessment of 2019, there is an increase of 2,261 sq km in the total forest and tree cover of the country. Out of this, the increase in the forest cover has been observed as 1,540 sq km and that in tree cover is 721 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%).
Seventeen states/UT’s have above 33 per cent of the geographical area under forest cover. Out of these states and UT’s, five states/UTs namely Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have more than 75 per cent 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 per cent to 75 per cent.