India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021 Claims total forest increased by 1540 Sq. Kms

By
Sabyasachi Patra
– 14 March,2023Posted in: Featured
Diary - Tales from Wild India | Conservation Magazine > Featured > India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021 Claims total forest increased by 1540 Sq. Kms

India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021 Claims total forest increased by 1540 Sq. Kms

Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, an organization under the MoEF&CC carries out the assessment of forest cover of the country biennially since 1987 and the findings are published in India State of Forest Report (ISFR). As per latest ISFR 2021, the total forest cover of the country is 7,13,789 square kilometre which is 21.72% of the geographical area of the country. The current assessment shows that the total forest cover of the country has increased by 1540 square kilometre, tree cover has increased by 721 square kilometre, and total forest and tree cover has increased by 2261 square kilometre at the national level as compared to the previous assessment i.e. ISFR 2019. This was stated by the Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 13th March, 2023. The State/UTs wise details of forest cover as per ISFR 2021 is given in Annexure I.

Neelakurinji flowers

Neelakurinji flowers in Eravikulam National Park

In order to restore ecosystems and increase the forest cover in the country, afforestation and tree plantation activities are undertaken by States/UTs. The Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change provides financial assistance to States/UTs under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes namely Green India Mission to support and supplement the efforts of States and Union Territories. National Mission for a Green India (GIM) is one of the eight Missions outlined under the National Action Plan on Climate Change. It aims at protecting, restoring, and enhancing India’s forest cover and responding to Climate Change by undertaking plantation activities in the forest and non-forest areas. GIM activities started in the Financial Year 2015-16. So far, a sum of Rs. 728.21 Crores have been released to sixteen States and one union territory for afforestation activities, over an area of 1,36,808 hectare. The State-wise details of funds released during the last five years and current year is given in Annexure-II.

It was stated that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is implementing Nagar Van Yojana (NVY) since the year 2020 which envisages creation of 400 Nagar Vans and 200 Nagar Vatika in the country during the period 2020-21 to 2024-25 under the funds available under National Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAMPA). The Nagar Van Yojana aims to enhance the green cover in the urban and peri-urban areas including biological diversity, provide ecological benefits and improve the quality of life of city dwellers. So far, the Ministry has approved 270 projects under Nagar Van Yojana with the total cost of Rs.238.64 Crore.

It was stated that the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAMPA fund) are being utilized by States/UTs for taking up compensatory afforestation as per approved Annual Plan of Operations for compensating the loss of forest & tree cover due to diversion of forest land for developmental projects as per provisions of Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016 (CAF Act) and CAF Rules, 2018. In addition to this, area specific provisions such as preparation of Catchment Area Treatment Plan, Wildlife Conservation Plan, Soil and Moisture Conservation Plan, etc. are also stipulated to mitigate the impacts of diversion of forest lands. The details of CAMPA funds released to the States/UTs during 2018-19 to 2022-23 are enclosed at Annexure-III.

Afforestation activities are also taken up under various programs and schemes of line Ministry such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, National Bamboo Mission, Sub-Mission on Agroforestry etc. and under schemes of State Government /UT Administration through different departments, Non-Government Organizations, Civil Society, Corporate bodies etc. The multi departmental efforts have yielded good results in conserving and enhancing forest cover in the country.

                                                                                                                               Annexure-I

 

State/UTs details of Forest Cover as per ISFR 2021

(Area in square kilometre)
S. No State/UT Geo-graphical Area (GA) Total Forest Cover Percentage of Geographical area Change in Forest Cover w.r.t ISFR 2019 Change Percentage

w.r.t. 2019 assessment

 Scrub
1 Andhra Pradesh 1,62,968 29,784 18.28 647 2.22 8,276
2 Arunachal Pradesh 83,743 66,431 79.33 -257 -0.39 797
3 Assam 78,438 28,312 36.09 -15 -0.05 228
4 Bihar 94,163 7,381 7.84 75 1.03 236
5 Chhattisgarh 1,35,192 55,717 41.21 106 0.19 615
6 Delhi 1,483 195.00 13.15 -0.44 -0.23 0.38
7 Goa 3,702 2,244 60.62 7 0.31 0
8 Gujarat 1,96,244 14,926 7.61 69 0.46 2,828
9 Haryana 44,212 1,603 3.63 1 0.06 159
10 Himachal  Pradesh 55,673 15,443 27.73 9 0.06 322
11 Jharkhand 79,716 23,721 29.76 110 0.47 584
12 Karnataka 1,91,791 38,730 20.19 155 0.40 4,611
13 Kerala 38,852 21,253 54.70 109 0.52 30
14 Madhya Pradesh 3,08,252 77,493 25.14 11 0.01 5,457
15 Maharashtra 3,07,713 50,798 16.51 20 0.04 4,247
16 Manipur 22,327 16,598 74.34 -249 -1.48 1,215
17 Meghalaya 22,429 17,046 76.00 -73 -0.43 663
18 Mizoram 21,081 17,820 84.53 -186 -1.03 1
19 Nagaland 16,579 12,251 73.90 -235 -1.88 824
20 Odisha 1,55,707 52,156 33.50 537 1.04 4,924
21 Punjab 50,362 1,847 3.67 -2 -0.11 34
22 Rajasthan 3,42,239 16,655 4.87 25 0.15 4,809
23 Sikkim 7,096 3,341 47.08 -1 -0.03 296
 

24

 Tamil Nadu 1,30,060 26,419 20.31 55 0.21 758
25 Telangana 1,12,077 21,214 18.93 632 3.07 2,911
26 Tripura 10,486 7,722 73.64 -4 -0.05 33
27 Uttar Pradesh 2,40,928 14,818 6.15 12 0.08 563
28 Uttarakhand 53,483 24,305 45.44 2 0.01 392
29 West Bengal 88,752 16,832 18.96 -70 -0.41 156
30 A & N Islands 8,249 6,744 81.75 1 0.01 1
31 Chandigarh 114 22.88 20.07 0.85 3.86 0.38
32 Dadra & Nagar Haveli
and Daman & Diu		 602 227.75 37.83 0.10 0.04 4.85
33 Jammu &
Kashmir		  

2,22,236

 

 21,387 39.15 29 0.14 284
34 Ladakh 2,272 1.35 18 0.80 279
35 Lakshadweep 30 27.10 90.33 0.00 0.00 0.00
36 Puducherry 490 53.30 10.88 0.89 1.70 0.00
Total 32,87,469 7,13,789 21.71 1,540 0.22 46,539

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                    Annexure-II

 

Details of funds released from 2017-18 to 2022-23 under the scheme National Mission for a Green India

(Rupees in Crore)

 

S. No. 

 States 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
1 Andhra Pradesh 0.45 2.67 Nil Nil 2.02 Nil
2 Arunachal Pradesh Nil Nil Nil Nil 13.43 Nil
3 Chhattisgarh 10.95 5.36 5.04 1.66 6.12 Nil
4 Haryana Nil Nil Nil Nil 9.55 Nil
5 Himachal Pradesh Nil Nil Nil 17.09 Nil Nil
6 Jammu & Kashmir Nil Nil Nil 25.73 Nil 6.49
7 Karnataka 0.86 1.62 2.21 2.35 4.45 2.93
8 Kerala Nil Nil 16.32 Nil Nil Nil
9 Madhya Pradesh Nil 24.16 30.65 Nil 18.29 17.93
10 Maharashtra Nil 10.30 Nil Nil Nil
11 Manipur 6.42 4.89 4.16 6.74 9.93 5.45
12 Mizoram 20.00 22.36 17.71 2.99 29.86 36.27
13 Odisha 1.41 4.74 14.19 26.01 17.74 8.48
14 Punjab 6.22 3.19 3.32 2.7393
15 Sikkim Nil 3.32 3.12 2.19 7.77 6.57
16 Uttarakhand Nil Nil Nil 27.89 33.99 28.40
17 West Bengal Nil Nil 9.43 Nil Nil 0.76
Total 46.30 79.43 106.01 112.65 156.46 116.01

 

                                                                                                                                                                                              Annexure III

Details of CAMPA fund released to State/UTs during 2018-19 to 2022-23.

Sl. No. State/UT Funds Released                                                                   (Amount in Rupees)
2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
1 Andaman & Nicobar 1,56,00,000 Nil 16,41,18,034.00      Nil Nil
2 Andhra Pradesh     1,04,47,00,000       17,34,81,40,177 Nil    1,14,05,48,162 Nil
3 Arunachal Pradesh     3,54,15,00,000       15,88,71,93,258 Nil     6,12,94,58,249 Nil
4 Assam         45,84,00,000         5,60,80,73,954 Nil                                    –      1,48,33,97,176
5 Bihar         46,61,90,000         5,22,94,75,017 Nil         43,63,92,536 Nil
6 Chandigarh           1,27,00,000             11,37,92,289 Nil                                    –    Nil
7 Chhattisgarh Nil       57,91,70,20,385 Nil     2,07,50,40,301 Nil
8 Dadar&Nagar Nil Nil Nil         22,87,00,439 Nil
9 Daman &Diu Nil Nil Nil                                    –    Nil
10 Delhi Nil Nil Nil     1,38,17,38,583  Nil
11 Goa Nil         2,38,15,66,295 Nil Nil Nil
12 Gujarat     2,12,66,00,000        14,84,60,03,080 Nil Nil Nil
13 Haryana     1,44,20,00,000       12,82,65,30,878 Nil Nil Nil
14 Himachal Pradesh     1,32,52,00,000       16,60,72,19,227 Nil Nil Nil
15 Jammu&Kashmir                                    Nil         5,10,11,54,800   3,56,19,88,860 Nil Nil
16 Jharkhand     2,86,25,00,000       41,58,01,69,322 Nil Nil Nil
17 Karnataka     1,01,40,00,000       13,50,37,43,189 Nil Nil Nil
18 Kerala         14,61,00,000             81,58,66,102 Nil Nil Nil
19 Ladakh(UT) Nil Nil   2,49,27,14,340 Nil Nil
20 Lakshdweep(UT) Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil
21 Madhya Pradesh     2,68,76,00,000       51,96,69,19,315 Nil     9,90,82,99,200 Nil
22 Maharashtra     2,25,00,00,000       38,44,24,19,155 Nil     2,85,22,21,971 Nil
23 Manipur         24,85,00,000         3,09,76,18,132 Nil         36,43,61,620 Nil
24 Meghalaya Nil         1,63,30,65,753 Nil Nil Nil
25 Mizoram           8,30,00,000         2,12,98,47,833 Nil Nil Nil
26 Nagaland Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil
27 Orissa     5,54,00,00,000        59,33,98,06,189                                  Nil 3,47,27,30,804 Nil
Sl. No. State/UT   Funds Released                                                                      (Amount in Rupees)
2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
28 Puducherry(UT) Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil
29 Punjab         79,20,00,000       10,40,84,37,006 Nil Nil       29,49,32,090
30 Rajasthan     1,82,03,00,000       17,48,25,94,648  Nil Nil Nil
31 Sikkim                                    –            3,92,36,08,568 Nil Nil       10,20,08,491
32 Tamil Nadu           7,00,00,000         1,13,41,93,727 Nil Nil Nil
33 Telangana     2,37,38,00,000        31,10,38,02,776  Nil Nil       67,76,22,192
34 Tripura         16,70,00,000         1,83,65,13,688  Nil         47,99,87,468 Nil
35 Uttar Pradesh     1,50,60,00,000       18,19,62,67,880 Nil Nil Nil
36 Uttarakhand     3,03,00,00,000       26,75,09,03,454 Nil Nil   1,18,99,55,031
37 West Bengal         21,22,00,000         2,36,47,68,181  Nil Nil       69,28,38,990
  TOTAL   35,23,58,90,000   4,79,57,67,14,278   6,21,88,21,234    28,46,94,79,333   4,44,07,53,970
1,258 Views
Follow me:
Latest posts by Sabyasachi Patra (see all)
Tags: , , , , ,