Forest, Tree Cover In India Grows By 5,188 Sq Km In 2 Years: Prakash Javadekar Releases Forest Survey Report

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday (30 December) released the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019, informing that the total tree and forest cover in the country had increased by 5,188 square kilometres in the last two years, reports India Today.

While, the forest cover in the country rose by 3,976 sq km, the increase in the tree cover was observed as 1,212 sq km, in comparison to the Forest Survey 2017, Press Information Bureau (PIB) tweeted.

According to Javadekar, there is also a growth of 42.6 million tonnes in the carbon stock of the country, as per the recent assessment, taking the total stock in the country to an estimated 7,124.6 million tonnes.

"This report gives us confidence that we are on track to achieve our Paris Agreement goals," said the Union Minister for Environment and Forests.

The top three states showing increase in forest cover are Karnataka (1,025 sq km) followed by Andhra Pradesh (990 sq km) and Kerala (823 sq km).

Although, the overall forest cover has increased in the country, there is a decline of about 765 sq km (0.45 per cent) in forest cover in northeastern region of the country.

Except Assam and Tripura, all states in the region show decrease in forest cover.

Mangrove cover has been separately reported in the ISFR 2019 and the total mangrove cover in the country is 4,975 sq km. An increase of 54 sq km in mangrove cover has been observed as compared to the previous assessment of 2017.

Top three states showing mangrove cover increase are Gujarat (37 sq km) followed by Maharashtra (16 sq km) and Odisha (8 sq km).

The extent of bamboo bearing area of the country has been estimated 16.00 million hectare. The total estimated green weight of bamboo culms is 278 million tonnes, showing an increase of 88 million tonnes as compared to ISFR 2017.

(With inputs from IANS)