21.71% of country’s area under forest cover: MoS Kirti Vardhan Singh
Report
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According to Kirti Vardhan Singh, the Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the country's total forest cover is 7,13,789 square kilometres or 21.71% of its geographical area. The minister gave this information in the Lok Sabha on 22 July 2024.
The Minister gave this information by quoting the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021.
The India State of Forest Report is prepared biennially by the Forest Survey of India, which is based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
The Forest Survey of India comes under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
State/UT with the highest and lowest Forest Cover
The maximum forest area in the country was reported in Madhya Pradesh, with 77,493 square kilometres of the state under forest cover. After Madhya Pradesh, the maximum area under forest was in Arunachal Pradesh, followed by Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
Among the states and Union Territories, Chandigarh had the least area under forest cover, a mere 23 square kilometres. After Chandigarh, Lakshadweep had 27 kilometres under forest cover, followed by Puducherry, 57 kilometres under forest cover.
Among the states, Haryana had the least forest cover (1603 sq km), followed by Punjab (1847 sq km).
List of the States/UT having forest cover as per the ISFR 2021
According to the Forest Survey of India’s India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021, the following list includes the states, UT, and the forest area in them.
|
Serial Number |
States/Union Territories |
ISFR 2019 |
ISFR 2021 |
|
1 |
Andhra Pradesh |
29,137 |
29,784 |
|
2 |
Arunachal Pradesh |
66,688 |
66,431 |
|
3 |
Assam |
28,327 |
28,312 |
|
4 |
Bihar |
7,306 |
7,381 |
|
5 |
Chhattisgarh |
55,611 |
55,717 |
|
6 |
Delhi |
195 |
195 |
|
7 |
Goa |
2,237 |
2,244 |
|
8 |
Gujarat |
14,857 |
14,926 |
|
9 |
Haryana |
1,602 |
1,603 |
|
10 |
Himachal Pradesh |
15,434 |
15,443 |
|
11 |
Jammu & Kashmir |
23,612 (including Ladakh) |
21,387 (Ladakh not included) |
|
12 |
Jharkhand |
23,611 |
23,721 |
|
13 |
Karnataka |
38,575 |
38,730 |
|
14 |
Kerala |
21,144 |
21,253 |
|
15 |
Madhya Pradesh |
77,482 |
77,493 |
|
16 |
Maharashtra |
50,778 |
50,798 |
|
17 |
Manipur |
16,847 |
16,598 |
|
18 |
Meghalaya |
17,119 |
17,046 |
|
19 |
Mizoram |
18,006 |
17,820 |
|
20 |
Nagaland |
12,486 |
12,251 |
|
21 |
Odisha |
51,619 |
52,156 |
|
22 |
Punjab |
1,849 |
1,847 |
|
23 |
Rajasthan |
16,630 |
16,655 |
|
24 |
Sikkim |
3,342 |
3,341 |
|
25 |
Tamil Nadu |
26,364 |
26,419 |
|
26 |
Telangana |
20,582 |
21,214 |
|
27 |
Tripura |
7,726 |
7,722 |
|
28 |
Uttar Pradesh |
14,806 |
14,818 |
|
29 |
Uttarakhand |
24,303 |
24,305 |
|
30 |
West Bengal |
16,902 |
16,832 |
|
31 |
Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
6,743 |
6,744 |
|
32 |
Chandigarh |
22 |
23 |
|
33 |
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu |
227 |
228 |
|
34 |
Ladakh |
* |
2,272 |
|
35 |
Lakshadweep |
27 |
27 |
|
36 |
Puducherry |
52 |
53 |
|
|
Total |
7,12,249 |
7,13,789 |
(Area in square kilometre)
