India's Forest and Tree Cover Expands by 1,445 Sq Km, Achieves 2.29 Billion-Tonne Carbon Sink While very dense forests increased by 3,465.12 sq km, moderately dense and open forests declined by 1,043.23 sq km and 2,480.11 sq km, respectively. Mangrove cover, vital for coastal ecosystems, experienced a slight decrease of 7.43 sq km.
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The combined forest and tree cover now constitutes 25.17 per cent of India's total geographical area, amounting to 8,27,357 sq km. India has achieved a remarkable feat in forest conservation, with the latest India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 revealing an increase of 1,445 sq km in the country's total forest and tree cover since 2021. The report highlighted that India has already created an additional carbon sink of 2.29 billion tonnes compared to 2005 levels, making substantial headway towards its nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. The country aims to achieve an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes by 2030 through increased forest and tree cover.
India's forest cover expanded by 156 sq km over two years, growing from 7,13,789 sq km in 2021 to 7,15,343 sq km in 2023. Tree cover witnessed an increase by 1,289 sq km to reach 3.41 per cent of the nation's geographical area. Bamboo-bearing areas also recorded growth, with a 5,227 sq km increase, bringing the total to 1,54,670 sq km.
Notably, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan led the way in forest and tree cover gains. For forest cover alone, Mizoram, Gujarat, and Odisha showed the largest growth. Madhya Pradesh retained its position as the state with the highest forest and tree cover, followed by Arunachal Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Despite these advancements, the report identified areas of concern. The Western Ghats and Eastern States Area witnessed a net loss of 58.22 sq km in forest cover over the past decade. Similarly, northeastern India saw a decrease of 327.30 sq km in forest cover, although the region still boasts 67 per cent of its geographical area under forest and tree cover.
The report also highlighted mixed trends in forest density. While very dense forests increased by 3,465.12 sq km, moderately dense and open forests declined by 1,043.23 sq km and 2,480.11 sq km, respectively. Mangrove cover, vital for coastal ecosystems, experienced a slight decrease of 7.43 sq km.
Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister, Bhupender Yadav, speaking at the report release event, lauded the progress, "In the present assessment, the total carbon stock in the country's forest is estimated to be 7,285.5 million tonnes. There is an increase of 81.5 million tonnes in the carbon stock compared to the last assessment. On the status of achievement of the target under nationally determined contributions (NDC) related to carbon sequestration, the current assessment shows that India's carbon stock has reached 30.43 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent; which indicates that compared to the base year of 2005, India has already reached 2.29 billion tonnes of additional carbon sink as against the target of 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes by 2030."
