Forest Survey Report 2021: Over 2200 sq km increase in the total tree cover area

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change released the Forest Survey Report 2021 which present a very encouraging picture of forest cover in India.

The report, ‘India State of Forest Report 2021’ was released by the Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav. The report was prepared by the Forest Survey of India (FSI). FSI has the mandate to assess the forest and tree resources of the country.

The Minister informed that the total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectares which are 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,” he said.

He expressed pleasure for the fact that the present assessment reveals that 17 states/UT’s have above 33 per cent of the geographical area under forest cover.

“The focus of the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is not just to conserve the forests quantitatively but to enrich it qualitatively,” he said.

According to the Ministry, the major findings of the reports are that the total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectares 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,” The Ministry said.

It added, “Increase in forest cover has been observed in open forest followed by very dense forest. 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).”