Indian State of Forest Report (ISFR), 2019

ISFR is a biennial report released by Forest Survey of India. The latest report consists of the following major findings:

Comparing with ISFR 2017

• The 2019 survey has found an increase of 5,188 sq. km in total forest and tree cover in the country.
• Tree and forest cover together made up 24.56% (8, 07,276 sq. km) of India’s area. In the last assessment it was 24.39%.
• The nation’s tree and forest cover has largely hovered from 21-25% and is short of the National Forest Policy, 1988, which envisages 33% to be under such cover.
• Mangrove cover in the country has increased by 54 sq. km (1.10%) as compared to the previous assessment.

Forest Cover (Top 5 states)

Area Wise – Madhya Pradesh (94,689 sq.km), Arunachal Pradesh (66,687 sq. km), Chhattisgarh (55,610.57 sq. km), Odisha (51,618.51 sq. km) and Maharashtra (50,777.56 sq. km).

Percentage wise – Mizoram (85.41%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.63%), Meghalaya (76.33%), Manipur (75.46%) and Nagaland (75.31%).

Increase in Forest Cover

The top five states to have shown an increase in forest cover include Karnataka (1,025 sq. km) > Andhra Pradesh (990 sq. km) > Kerala (823 sq. km) > J&K (371 sq. km) > Himachal Pradesh (334 sq. km).

Decline in Forest Cover in North-East

There has been 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.

The Indian Forest Policy has mandated 33% of Indian area be covered with forest to maintain ecological balance. This is a far-fetched dream seeing the present status of forest cover in the country. Policy measures like proper afforestation, efficient implementation of environmental norms must be ensured to increase forest cover in the country.