Knowledge nugget of the day: India State of Forest Report 2023 | UPSC Current Affairs News

Key Takeaways:

1. India is one of the few countries in the world that produces such an every two years, and this is widely considered comprehensive and robust. With data computed through wall-to-wall mapping of India’s forest cover through remote sensing techniques, the ISFR is used in the planning and formulation of policies in forest management, forestry, and agroforestry sectors.

2. India’s green cover has exceeded the 25% threshold with 8,27,357 sq km (25.17%) of the country now under forest (21.76%) and tree (3.41%) cover. Of this, 4,10,175 sq km is classified as dense forests.

3. The net forest cover has increased by 156.41 sq km between 2021 and 2023 taking the geographical area under forest cover to 21.76 per cent, a paltry rise of 0.05 per cent compared to the 2021 assessment. With the increase in the net forest area, the total area under the forest cover is now 7,15,342.61 sq km.

4. Between 2003 and 2013, forest cover increased by 0.61 percentage points, from 20.62% to 21.23%. In the next 10 years, it grew by only 0.53 percentage points to 21.76%.

5. There is the sharpest growth in tree cover. It has increased from 2.91% in 2021 to 3.41% in 2023 leading to an increase of 1,285.4 sq km. The total green cover put together has increased by 1,445.81 sq km, compared to 2021, covering a geographical area of 25.17 per cent.

6. ISFR-2023 shows that 3,913 sq km of dense forests — an area larger than Goa — have disappeared in India in just two years since 2021. This is consistent with the worsening trend over the past two decades: 17,500 sq km of dense forests were wiped out between 2013 and 2023, while 7,151 sq km disappeared between 2003 and 2013.

Source: ISFR 2003-2023

7. India has witnessed the complete destruction of 24,651 sq km — more than 6.3% — of its dense forests in the two decades since 2003. As a single forest unit, that would be nearly half the size of Punjab.

8. ISFR-2023 accounts for 1,420 sq km of plantations becoming dense forests since 2021. This again shows a downhill trend: areas under plantations-as-dense-forests are expanding as the disappearance of dense forests becomes routine.

9. An assessment of forest cover across the Western Ghats was done for the first time. It showed that the area earmarked as eco-sensitive by the Centre lost 58.22 sq km of forest cover since 2013. “Though very dense forests increased by 3,455.12 sq km, moderately dense forests and open forests decreased by 1,043.23 sq km and 2,480.11 sq km, respectively,” as per the report.

10. Mangrove species have seen a decrease of 7.43 sq km in the country compared to 2021. The country’s total mangrove cover is 4,991.68 sq km, accounting for 0.15 per cent of the country’s total geographical area. A prominent decrease was recorded in Gujarat at a loss of 36 sq km, followed by a 4.65 sq km decrease in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Source: ISFR 2023

Performance of states

1. The northeastern states continued to record a declining trend in forest cover and as per the 2023 assessment, the decrease was by 327.30 sq km. Only Mizoram recorded an increase of 178 sq km. The highest decline was seen across Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam.

2. Among states, the maximum rise in forest and tree cover was seen in Chhattisgarh (683.62 sq km), followed by Uttar Pradesh (559.19 sq km), Odisha (558.57 sq km) and Rajasthan (394.46 sq km). On the other hand, the maximum decrease was seen in Madhya Pradesh (612.41 sq km), followed by Karnataka (459.36 sq km), Ladakh (159.26 sq km) and Nagaland (125.22 sq km).

3. Inside RFAs such as reserved and protected forests, the maximum increase was in Mizoram (192.92 sq km), followed by Odisha (118.17 sq km), Karnataka (93.14 sq km), West Bengal (64.79 sq km) and Jharkhand (52.72 sq km).

4. Area-wise, the top three states with the largest forest and tree cover are Madhya Pradesh (85,724 sq km) followed by Arunachal Pradesh (67,083 sq km) and Maharashtra (65,383 sq km).

BEYOND THE NUGGET: Know the key terms of the Report

1. Forest cover: It refers to all lands, more than or equal to one hectare in area, with a tree canopy of more than or equal to 10%, irrespective of ownership and legal status; and includes orchards, bamboo, and palm. It indicates the presence of trees on any land, irrespective of ownership of land; and irrespective of the fact whether the land is notified as forest land or not.

2. Dense Forests: Areas with a canopy density of 40% and above are considered dense forests.

3. Open Forests (OF): Areas with a canopy density of 10-40 % are open forests (OF).

4. Very Dense Forests (VDF): Areas with at least 70% canopy density have been classified as very dense forests (VDF).

5. Recorded Forest Area (RFA): It is also called a forest area referring to all the geographic areas recorded as ‘forest’ in government records. The ‘Reserved Forests’ (RF) and ‘Protected Forests’ (PF) under the provisions of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 constitute the RFA.

6. Tree cover: It is the area covered by trees but outside the forest area. It records tree patches smaller than 1 hectare because the tree cover of more than 1 hectare is already recorded as forest cover.

(Source: India’s net forest cover sees paltry rise of 156.41 sq km; decrease in mangroves and Western Ghats cover, Why growth of India’s overall green cover is not all good news)

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