India State of Forest Report, 2019

Question: On the 30th of December 2019, the State of Forest Report 2019 was released. According to this report, which of the following states tops in the forest cover increase?
(a) Andhra Pradesh
(b) Kerala
(c) Himachal Pradesh
(d) Karnataka
Answer: (d)
Related facts:

  • On 30th December 2019, the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar released the biennial “India State of Forest Report (ISFR)”, in New Delhi.
  • ISFR provides comprehensive information about the forest and tree cover, bamboo resources, carbon stock and forest fires.

Key Findings of ISFR 2019

  • The total forest cover of the country is 7,12,249 sq. km which is 21.67% of the geographical area of the country. The tree cover of the country is estimated as 95,027 sq km which is 2.89% of the geographical area.
  • The total Forest and Tree cover of the country is 8,07,276 sq. km which is 24.56% of the geographical area of the country.
  • The current assessment shows an increase of 3,976 sq km (0.56%) of forest cover, 1,212 sq km (1.29%) of tree cover and 5,188 sq km (0.65%) of forest and tree cover put together, at the national level as compared to the previous assessment i.e. ISFR 2017.
  • Forest cover within the Recorded Forest Area/ Green Wash (RFA/GW) has shown a slight decrease of 330 sq km (0.05%) whereas there is an increase of 4,306 sq km of forest cover outside the RFA/GW as compared to previous assessment of 2017.
  • The top five States in terms of increase in forest cover are Karnataka (1,025 sq km), Andhra Pradesh (990 sq km), Kerala (823 sq km), Jammu & Kashmir (371 sq km) and Himachal Pradesh (334 sq km).
  • Forest cover in the hill districts of the country is 2, 84,006 sq km, which is 40.30% of the total geographical area of these districts. The current assessment shows an increase of 544 sq km (0.19%) in 140 hill districts of the country.
  • The total forest cover in the tribal districts is 4,22,351 sq km, which is 37.54% of the geographical area of these districts. The current assessment shows a decrease of 741 sq km of forest cover within the RFA/GW in the tribal districts and an increase of 1,922 sq km outside.
  • Total forest cover in the North Eastern region is 1,70,541 sq km, which is 65.05% of its geographical area. The current assessment shows a decrease of forest cover to the extent of 765 sq km (0.45%) in the region. Except Assam and Tripura, all the States in the region show decrease in forest cover.
  • Mangrove cover in the country has increased by 54 sq km (1.10%) as compared to the previous assessment.
  • The total growing stock of wood in the country is estimated 5,915.76 million cum comprising 4,273.47 million cum inside forest areas and 1,642.29 million cum outside recorded forest areas (TOF). The average growing stock per hectare in forest has been estimated as 55.69 cum.
  • Total bamboo bearing area of the country is estimated as 1,60,037 sq km. There is an increase of 3,229 sq km in bamboo bearing area as compared to the estimate of ISFR 2017.
  • In the present assessment, total carbon stock in forest is estimated as 7,124.6 million tonnes. There is an increase of 42.6 million tonnes in the carbon stock of the country as compared to the last assessment of 2017. The annual increase is 21.3 million tonnes, which is 78.1 million tonnes CO2 eq.
  • 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 (85.41%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.63%), Meghalaya (76.33%), Manipur (75.46%) and Nagaland (75.31%).
  • The total mangrove cover in the country is 4,975 sq km.
  • In the present assessment, total carbon stock in forest is estimated as 7,124.6 million tonnes. There is an increase of 42.6 million tonnes in the carbon stock of the country as compared to the last assessment of 2017. The annual increase is 21.3 million tonnes, which is 78.1 million tonnes CO2 eq.
  • Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) represents the largest pool of carbon stock in forests, which has been estimated 4,004 million tonnes. The SOC contributes 56% to the total forest carbon stock of the country.
  • There are 62,466 wetlands covering 3.83% of the area within the RFA/GW of the country. The total number of wetlands located within the RFA/GW is 8.13%. Amongst the States, Gujarat has largest area of wetlands within RFA in the country followed by West Bengal.
  • Dependence of fuelwood on forests is highest in the State of Maharashtra, whereas, for fodder, small timber and bamboo, dependence is highest in Madhya Pradesh. It has been assessed that the annual removal of the small timber by the people living in forest fringe villages is nearly 7% of the average annual yield of forests in the country.
  • The information on area affected by five major invasive species in States/UTs based on analysis of NFI data has been given in the present ISFR.
  • Fire prone forest areas of different severity classes have been mapped in the grids of 5km x 5km based on the frequency of forest fires. The analysis reveals that 21.40% of the forest cover of the country is highly to extremely fire prone.

Some Major Findings

  • 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 total growing stock of India’s forest and TOF is estimated 5,915.76 million cum of which 4,273.47 million cum is inside the forests and 1,642.29 million cum outside.
  • There is an increase of 93.38 million cum of total growing stock, as compared to the previous assessment. Out of this the increase in growing stock, there is an increase of 55.08 million cum inside the forests and 38.30 million cum outside the forest areas.
  • The extent of bamboo bearing area of the country has been estimated 16.00 million hectare. There is an increase of 0.32 million hectare in bamboo bearing area as compared to the last assessment of ISFR 2017. The total estimated green weight of bamboo culms is 278 million tonnes, slowly an increase of 88 million tonnes as compared to ISFR 2017.
  • Under the current assessment the total carbon stock in country’s forest is estimated 7,124.6 million tonnes and there an increase of 42.6 million tonnes in the carbon stock of country as compared to the last assessment of 2017. The annual increase in the carbon stock is 21.3 million tonnes, which is 78.2 million tonnes CO2 eq.
  • Wetlands within forest areas form important ecosystems and add richness to the biodiversity in forest areas, both of faunal and floral species. Due to importance of wetlands, FSI has carried out an exercise at the national level to identify wetlands of more than 1 ha within RFA. There are 62,466 wetlands covering 3.8% of the area within the RFA/GW of the country.

Indian Forest Status Report of Uttar Pradesh, 2019

  • According to the ISFR 2019, the total recorded forest area in Uttar Pradesh is 16,582 square kilometers which is 6.88% of the total geographical area.
  • As per statutory status, it has 72.79% of reserved forest, 6.98% protected forest and 20.23% unclassed forest.
  • According to ISFR 2019, the total forest cover of Uttar Pradesh is 14,805.65 square kilometers (Based on the interpretation of IRS Resourcesat-2 LISS III satellite data of the period Oct 2017 to Jan 2018) which is 6.15% of the total area of Uttar Pradesh.
  • There are 2,616.43 square kilometers of very dense forest (1.09%), 4080.04 square kilometers of moderately dense forest (1.69%) and 81.09.18 square kilometers are open forest (3.37%).
  • The forest cover in the state has increased by 126.65 sq km as compared to revised figures of ISFR 2017.
  • Five districts with highest forest area percentage in total area (in decreasing order) Sonbhadra, Chandauli, Pilibhit, Mirzapur and Chitrakoot.
  • In Uttar Pradesh, the tree cover is 3.05% of the total area (7342 sq km).
  • In Uttar Pradesh, the area of scrubs is 587 sq km in (0.24%).
  • Sonbhadra, the district with the maximum forest cover in Uttar Pradesh (36.79 % of the geographical area of 6905 square kilometers).
  • Bhadohi (Sant Ravidas Nagar), the district with the minimum forest cover in Uttar Pradesh (0.10% of the geographical area of 1015 square kilometers).
  • Lakhimpur Kheri district is very densely forested area in the state (804.91 square kilometers).
  • Maximum moderate forested area (967 square kilometers) and open forest area (1443.29 square kilometers) in Sonbhadra district.

Important statistics related to forest area

  • 5 districts with maximum forest area percentage (decreasing order):

Sonbhadra(36.79%),Chandauli (22.25%),Pilibhit (18.64%),Mirzapur(18.25%), Chitrakoot(18.23%).

  • 5 districts with maximum forest area percentage (in increasing order):

Sant Ravidas Nagar (0.31%),Mainpuri(0.49%),Deoria(0.60%), Budaun(0.62%), Mau(0.64%).

  • 5 districts with maximum forest area (in decreasing order) are Sonbhadra(2540.29 sq km), Kheri(1273.06 sq km), Mirzapur (803.73 sq km),Pilibhit (687.11 sqkm ),Chitrakoot (586.40 sq km).

• 5 districts with minimum forest area (in increasing order):

Bhadohi (3.12 sq km), Mau (11 sq km), Mainpuri(14sq km), Sant Kabir Nagar( 14 sqkm), Deoria( 15.21 sqkm).

Links:
http://fsi.nic.in/isfr19/vol1/executive-summary.pdf
http://fsi.nic.in/isfr-volume-i
http://fsi.nic.in/isfr19/vol2/isfr-2019-vol-ii-uttar-pradesh.pdf

4 thoughts on “India State of Forest Report, 2019”

  1. Do we have district wise information about forest/ green cover, Iwant details of Meerut district

  2. I am a PhD research student ; researching in Urban Forestry; and would like to know more about the urban forest data and the modifications in the policies of the government.

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