The biennial India State of Forest Report (ISFR 2023), released by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav in Dehradun on Saturday, showed that India’s forest area has seen a net increase of 156 sq km and tree area by 1,289 sq km since 2021. It also recorded a complete loss of 3,656 sq km of dense forests in that time.
India State of Forest Report 2023 (ISFR) released by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav in Dehradun
Trees smaller than 1 hectare are not considered forests and are counted separately as tree area. At 1,12,014 sq km, India’s tree area now extends to more than 3.41% of the land area and complements India’s 21.76% forest area.
Releasing the report, Minister Yadav expressed happiness that the country’s total forest and tree area has increased by 1,445 sq km as compared to 2021.
He also highlighted the near real-time fire warning and forest fire services provided by FSI using advanced technology.
India State of Forest Report Latest Update
The top four states that recorded the maximum increase in forest and tree cover are Chhattisgarh (684 sq km), followed by Uttar Pradesh (559 sq km), Odisha (559 sq km) and Rajasthan (394 sq km).
The four states that recorded the maximum decrease in forest and tree cover between 2021 and 2023 are Madhya Pradesh (612.41 sq km), Karnataka (459.36 sq km), Ladakh (159.26 sq km) and Nagaland (125.22 sq km).
When it comes to increase in forest cover alone, Mizoram (242 sq km), Gujarat (180 sq km) and Odisha (152 sq km) topped the charts. Incidentally, Odisha was one of the top gainers in ISFR 2021 as well.
21 states and union territories have shown an increasing trend in tree cover, indicating promotion of agroforestry, with Chhattisgarh (702.75 sq km), Rajasthan (478.26 sq km) and Uttar Pradesh (440.76 sq km) leading the way.
Dense forests and tree species have become extinct
In terms of quality (canopy density), Indiaβs forests are classified into three categories: very dense forests (VDF) with 70% or more canopy density, moderately dense forests (MDF) with 40-70% canopy density and open forests (OF) with less than 40% canopy density.
Depending on various factors such as climate and conservation, a forest area may gain or lose density β OFs may improve into MDFs, or MDFs may thin into OFs β during a 2-year ISFR cycle. But when a previously forested area is recorded as non-forest (NF), it means that the forest has been lost completely
According to the latest ISFR, 294.75 sq km of VDF and 3,361.5 sq km of MDF became non-forest during 2021-2023 in India. Overall, 3,656 sq km of dense forests have been lost in two years.
Some of this loss was offset by 895 sq km of non-forests being converted into dense forests: 55.53 sq km of VDF and 839.26 sq km of MDF. These are plantations of limited ecological value as natural forests do not grow that fast.
ISFR 2023 analysed decadal change in forest cover of eco-sensitive areas of the Western Ghats and recorded a total loss of 58.22 sq km in forest cover since 2013. In that time, VDF in the landscape increased by 3,465.12 sq km, while MDF and OF decreased by 1,043.23 sq km and 2,480.11 sq km, respectively.
Since 2021, the country’s mangrove cover has decreased by 7.43 sq km, with Gujarat recording the highest reduction at 36.39 sq km. However, Andhra Pradesh (13.01 sq km) and Maharashtra (12.39 sq km) recorded a significant increase in mangroves.
