Aathira Perinchery 
Bengaluru: India’s forest and tree cover is currently 8,27,357 square kilometers, and has increased by 1,445.81 square kilometers over the last two years, as per the latest iteration of the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) released by Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav at Dehradun’s Forest Research Institute (FRI) on Saturday (December 21).
The ISFR, which has been released since 1987 by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), lists the change in forest and tree cover across the country over every two years based on methods including satellite imagery. The ISFR 2023 is the 18th report of this exercise.
India’s forest and tree cover “increases”
As per the report, the total area under forest (forested areas of larger than one hectare in size) and tree cover (ranging from cover provided by a single tree to patches of trees of less than one hectare in area) is currently 8,27,357 square kilometers, which is around 25% of the geographical area of the country.
There has been a net increase in forest cover since the last ISFR report (ISFR 2021) – an increase of 156.41 square kilometers (7.28 sq km inside recorded forest areas such as reserved forests and protected forests, and 149.13 sq km outside them). The net increase in tree cover is 1,289.40 sq km. Together, the total increase in both forest and tree cover is 1,445.81 sq km.
The report also says that inside recorded forest areas, very dense forest – a category used to describe the forests with tree canopy density higher than 70% – has increased (by 2,431.50 sq km) while three other types of forests that have lower canopy levels – moderately dense forest, open forest and scrub – have all decreased (by 1,234.95 sq km, 1,189.27 sq km and 1,204.76 sq km respectively). Non-forest area has increased by 1,197.48 sq km.
Outside recorded forest areas, non-forest and open forest areas have increased (by 1,763.33 sq km and 629.48 sq km, respectively) while very dense forests, moderately dense forest and scrub areas have decreased (by 63.88 sq km, 416.47 sq km and 1,912.46 sq km, respectively).
India’s mangrove cover, meanwhile, has decreased. It is now 4,991.68 sq km, a decrease of 7.43 sq km. Gujarat, incidentally, has lost the highest area under mangroves, when compared to the last assessment – 36.39 sq km. Worryingly, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands also show a decrease in about 4.6 sq km of mangrove area.
The total forest and tree cover in the northeastern states is 1,74,394.70 sq km, as per the latest assessment – this is, again, a decrease of around 327 sq km.
The top five states showing an increase in forest and tree cover are Chhattisgarh (683.62 sq km), Uttar Pradesh (559.19 sq km), Odisha (558.57 sq km), Rajasthan (394.46 sq km) and Jharkhand (289.96 sq km).
The top five states that have recorded a decrease in forest and tree cover are Madhya Pradesh (a decrease of 612.41 sq km), Karnataka (by 459.36 sq km), Nagaland (by 125.22 sq km), Bihar (by 123.98 sq km) and Tripura (by 100.70 sq km).
Among the six mega cities of Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, Delhi has the largest forest cover (194.15 sq km), followed by Mumbai (110.84 sq km) and Bengaluru (89.61 sq km). Overall, the report lists that forest cover in the six cities has increased by 2.09 sq km when compared to ISFR 2021.
With India promising to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through increasing forest and tree cover by 2030 as part of its Nationally Determined Contribution, to meet the Paris Agreement of 2015 – through efforts such as afforestation, which means that carbon in the atmosphere is sequestered in the form of trees – the ISFRs also list the change in carbon sequestration due to changes in forest and tree cover.
The ISFR 2023 states that India’s carbon sequestration has also increased. From the last ISFR report (ISFR 2021), India’s increased forest and tree cover (of 1,445.81 sq km) has purportedly led to an increase of 2.29 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. At this rate, the report estimates that by 2030, India would be able to sequester 31.71 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through increased forest and tree cover.
Yadav, while launching the report, said that this is the “most positive aspect” of ISFR 2023.
“We have also identified additional carbon potential…by improvement of 93 lakh hectares that have been identified and once they are afforested, they will recruit 636 million tonnes of additional carbon sequestration can be carried out [sic],” said Anoop Singh, director general of the FSI, while introducing the report at the launch event.
The government has started the Green Credit Fund in India as a pilot project, said Yadav, while launching the report. To make the Green Credit Scheme “more open, and to make more people use this,” the government is also working towards increasing green cover by implementing the Green Credit Scheme, Yadav added.
“Our forests will also play a big role in achieving India’s Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.
“New” features of the ISFR 2023
The report also provides some “new features” when compared to its previous iterations. One is that there is a separate chapter on agroforestry, and this has come in after a decade, said Singh. As per the report, the total tree green cover under agroforestry across India in 2023 is 1,27,590.05 sq km, and there are currently 8,289 million trees under agroforestry systems across the country.
Another chapter that has again been re-introduced – also after a decade – is one on the “Important characteristics of India’s forests,” Singh added. These “important characteristics” include aspects such as soil depth, humus, soil organic carbon, soil erosion levels, grazing instances and regeneration levels.
The report also estimates bamboo cover in the country, and this has now been included in the tree cover estimates. The report estimates the extent of area under bamboo cover in India to be 1,54,670 sq km; this is an increase of 5,227 sq km when compared to the previous assessment.
The report has also, for the first time, estimated tree cover provided by smaller trees – between 5 to 10 cm of diameter at breast height.
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“Because now the trend is that in most of the states species like subabul [Leucaena leucocephala] are being planted on a large scale, which are being supplied to paper mills,” Singh said, explaining why these trees have been included in ISFR 2023 too. “These are cut within a period of three to four years. This was not getting estimated [earlier] although in [terms of] tree cover it is quite something and in volume as well. It also supports the economy.”
Another important change is that the ISFR 2023 gives estimates for 751 districts versus the 636 districts examined in ISFR 2021. The latest report also gives forest cover data pertaining to each Forest Division for 16 states, another first for the series.
As per the report, the area of forest cover in Western Ghats Eco-Sensitive Areas across 45 districts in six states, following the list made by the Kasturirangan Report, is 44,043.99 sq km. When compared to ISFR 2013 that last listed this figure, there is a decrease of 58.22 sq km now in these areas.
“To protect nature is important… But for this today, we also need scientific data, research, analysis, and knowledge of trends,” Yadav said, commenting on the ISFR 2023 at the launch. “And the FSI’s report is an important milestone in this aspect. But this will not just remain a report, it will enter our country’s policies as a practicality that will help improve India’s green cover, biodiversity. This is now available as a document that is in the form of an important study and I hope we will be able to take it forward.”