Staff Reporter / NEW DELHI
Total tree, Forest Cover in Country increases by more than 5 thousand square kilometers said Environment and Forest Minister Prakash Javadekar while releasing ‘The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019’ in New Delhi.
There has been an increase of 5,188 sq kms in the total forest and tree cover of the country as compared to the assessment of 2017. Out of this, the increase in the forest cover has been observed as 3,976 sq km and that in tree cover is 1,212 sq km, the government report said.
Under the current assessment the total carbon stock in countr”s forest is estimated 7,124.6 million tonnes and there an increase of 42.6 million tonnes in the carbon stock of country as compared to the last assessment of 2017, Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar said.
The top three states showing increase in forest cover are Karnataka (1,025 sq km) followed by Andhra Pradesh (990 sq km) and Kerala (823 sq km).
Mangrove cover has been separately reported in the ISFR 2019 and the total mangrove cover in the country is 4,975 sq km. An increase of 54 sq km in mangrove cover has been observed as compared to the previous assessment of 2017. Top three states showing mangrove cover increase are Gujarat (37 sq km) followed by Maharashtra (16 sq km) and Odisha (8 sq km).
This is a biennial exercise to estimate the forest cover, the density of forest vegetation, tree cover across States, and the progress of plantation outside regions officially designated as forest.
The exercise involves both satellite mapping and surveys to map increase or decrease in forest cover.
