By: Hiranya Barman
GUWAHATI, Dec 21: The Indian State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 released on Saturday showed a decline in the forest and tree cover in Assam by 83.93 sq km since 2021.
Assam and other Northeastern states other than Sikkim and Mizoram witnessed a decline in forest and tree cover, although the total forest and tree cover of the country has increased compared to 2021.
Related Posts:
Assam also witnessed a decline of forest cover inside the Recorded Forest Area/Green wash (RFA/GW) by 86.66 sq Km. Other states which saw the maximum decrease of forest cover inside the RFA/GW are Tripura (116.90 sq km) followed by Telangana (105.87 sq km), Andhra Pradesh (83.47 sq km), and Gujarat (61.22 sq km).
The States showing the maximum increase of forest cover inside the RFA/GW are 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), the report stated.
The total forest and tree cover in Assam is 30,415.01 sq km of the total geographical area of 78,438.00 sq km, as per the report.
The Northeastern states witnessed an overall decline in forest and tree cover by 327.30 sq km since 2021.
Nagaland saw the highest decline in forest and tree cover of 125.22 sq km among the NE states. Arunachal Pradesh witnessed a decline of 52.49 sq km, Manipur declined by 62.20 sq km, Meghalaya by 84.07 sq km, and Tripura by 100.70 sq km.
However, Mizoram saw an increase in tree and forest cover by 178.42 sq km. Similarly, Sikkim saw an increase in greenery by 2.88 sq km.
The total forest and tree cover of the country has increased by 1445.81 sq km as compared to the last assessment of 2021. The current assessment shows an increase of 156.41 sq km in the forest cover at the national level as compared to the previous assessment, the ISFR stated.
The total forest and tree cover of the country is 8,27,356.95 sq km which is 25.17% of the geographical area of the country. The total Forest Cover has an area of 7,15,342.61 sq km (21.76%) whereas the Tree Cover has an area of 1,12,014.34 sq km (3.41%).
The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023, released on Saturday, also said that India has achieved an additional carbon sink of 2.29 billion tonnes compared to 2005 levels.
As part of its climate plans or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to meet the Paris Agreement goals, the country has committed to creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
In terms of the total area, Madhya Pradesh leads with the largest forest and tree cover (85,724 sq km), followed by Arunachal Pradesh (67,083 sq km), and Maharashtra (65,383 sq km).
For forest cover specifically, Madhya Pradesh remains on top (77,073 sq km), followed by Arunachal Pradesh (65,882 sq km), and Chhattisgarh (55,812 sq km).
.
