India’s forest, tree cover rose by 2,261 sq km in 2021: ISFR report

Category : National Published on: March 16 2023

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India’s forest and tree cover has risen by 2,261 square kilometers in the year 2021 with Andhra Pradesh growing the maximum forest cover of 8,276 square kilometers, according to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021.
The biennial report by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, an assessment of the country’s forest resources, was released by Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ashwini Kumar Choubey.
The total tree-and-forest cover in the country includes an increase of 1,540 square kilometres of forest cover and 721 sq km of tree cover compared to the 2019 report.
Top three states showing increase in forest cover are Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km) followed by Telangana (632 sq km) and Odisha (537 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%).