Context:
Union Minister Bhupender Yadav Releases India State of Forest Report 2023.
Key Findings:
- Total Coverage: The total forest and tree cover in India is 8,27,357 sq km, which accounts for 25.17% of the country’s geographical area.
Forest Area – The term ‘Forest Area‘ (or recorded forest area) generally refers to all the geographic areas recorded as forest in government records.
Forest cover – The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change defines ‘forest cover’ in India as “all lands, more than one hectare in area with a tree canopy density of more than 10%”,
Tree cover – “tree patches outside recorded forest areas exclusive of forest cover and less than the minimum mappable area of one hectare”.
- Forest cover alone constitutes 21.76% of the geographical area.
- Tree cover spans 3.41% of the geographical area.
- Increase in Coverage – Compared to the 2021 assessment, there is an increase of 1,445 sq km in the total forest and tree cover.
- Largest Forest and Tree Cover – Madhya Pradesh > Arunachal Pradesh > Maharashtra
- In terms of percentage of forest cover with respect to total geographical area, Lakshadweep (91.33 percent) has the highest forest cover followed by Mizoram (85.34 percent) and Andaman & Nicobar Island (81.62 percent).
- Top States for Increase in Forest and Tree Cover – Chhattisgarh > Uttar Pradesh > Odisha > Rajasthan
- Top States for Increase in Forest Cover – Mizoram > Gujarat > Odisha
- Forest Density:
- Very Dense Forest (VDF): Canopy density ≥ 70%Moderately
- Dense Forest (MDF): Canopy density between 40% and 70%
- Open Forest (OF): Canopy density between 10% and 40%
- Scrub: Canopy density < 10%.
- Total Carbon Stock: India’s total forest carbon stock is 7,285.5 million tonnes, with an increase of 81.5 million tonnes since 2021.
- Mangrove Cover: The mangrove cover has decreased by 7.43 sq km to 4,991.68 sq km
Source: PIB
Previous Year Question
In India, in which one of the following types of forests is teak a dominant tree species?
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2015 Prelims]
(a) Tropical moist deciduous forest
(b) Tropical rainforest
(c) Tropical thorn scrub forest
(d) Temperate forest with grasslands
Answer: (a)