State of Forests Report is published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) on a biennial basis since 1987. Forest cover of the country is mapped through indigenous RESOURCESAT -2 satellite data with a LISS III sensor.

The forest cover of India has increased by 5,081 square kilometres between 2013 and 2015. The India State Forest Report 2015, released by Union Environment Minister, Prakash Javadekar, also showed that the country's carbon stock has also increased by 103 million tonnes.

Key Definitions

Canopy and Canopy Density

The cover of branches and Foliage formed by the crown of trees is called Canopy.  The percentage area of land covered by the canopy of trees is called Canopy density.

Forest Cover

All lands which are more than 1 hectare in area and with a Canopy density of more than 10% irrespective of the ownership and legal status is called Forest Cover. Also it does not make any distinction whether the forest is natural or manmade forest, government or private, recorded or not recorded. It includes bamboo, orchards, palm etc.

Recorded Forest Area and Forest Blank

The area recorded as “forests” in the Government records is called Forest Area or Recorded Forest Area. The patches within the forest area which have little or no trees are called “Forest Blank”. The recorded Forest Area denotes the legal status of the land. It is defined as the geographic area recorded as forest in government records, state law or any local law. It is different from the forest cover as forest area may include areas with less than 10% of tree canopy density and may exclude areas more than 10% of tree canopy density.

E-Watch

It is a web based GIS application developed for monitoring various activities funded under CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) CAMPA is meant to promote afforestation activities in order to compensate for forest land diverted to non-forest uses).

Carbon Stock

It is defined as the amount of carbon stored in the ecosystem of the forest especially in living biomass and soil.

Best Season to get Satellite Data of Forests

October – December is the best season. The reflectance from the forests is dependent on the crown foliage and its chlorophyll content. Due to seasonal variability of the tree phenology over the year, season of satellite data acquisition is of utmost importance for forest cover assessment.

Deciduous forests allow more reflectance from the ground surface during leafless period thus making their own detection and classification difficult. Hence, data of the spring-summer season is not suitable for interpretation of such forest types. During rainy season, the situation is compounded due to non availability of cloud-free data and mixing of agricultural and other green covers with forest cover due to similarity in their spectral reflectance. Taking these limitations into consideration, satellite data of the period October to December is considered to be the most suitable for forest cover mapping of the entire country. However, in cases where cloud free data is not available for this period, data of January to March is procured.

Types of Forest Covers

The degraded forest lands which have a Canopy density of less than 10% are called Scrubs. The Lands with Canopy density of 10-40% are called Open Forests. The Land with forest cover having a canopy density of 40-70% is called the Moderately Dense Forest (MDF) The Lands with forest cover having a canopy density of 70% and more are called Very Dense Forests (VDF).

State of Forests Report 2015: Key Findings

• Total forest cover in India: 7,01,673 sq km (increase of 3775 sqkm)
• Total forest cover as percentage of geographical area: 21.34 per cent
• Total tree cover in India: 92,572 sq km (increase of 1306 sq km)
• Total tree cover as percentage of geographical area : 2.82 per cent
• State with largest total forest cover: Madhya Pradesh having 77, 462 sq km
• State having highest forest cover as % of its area: Mizoram (88.93 per cent)
• Increase in carbon sink:103 million tonnes CO2 equivalent

Top five states with maximum forest cover

India’s top five states with maximum forest cover (in km²) are as follows:

1. Madhya Pradesh (77,462)
2. Arunachal Pradesh (67,248)
3. Chhattisgarh (55,586)
4. Maharashtra (50,628)
5. Orissa (50,354)

Top five states with maximum forest cover as part of their area

Top five states / UTs with maximum forest cover as percentage of their own geographical area are as follows:

1. Mizoram (88.93%)
2. Lakshadweep (84.56%)
3. A&N islands (81.84%)
4. Arunachal Pradesh (80.30%)
5. Nagaland (78.21%)

Forest Cover in Altitude Zones

Key facts

The total forest and tree cover in the country is 79.42 million hectare, which accounts for 24.16 per cent of the total geographical area.

The total forest cover of the country has increased by 3, 775 sq km and the tree cover has gone up by 1, 306 sq km.

The majority of the increase in forest cover has been observed in open forest category mainly outside forest areas, followed by Very Dense Forest.

Open Forest area: Increased by 4744 sq km and accounts for 9.14 per cent of the total geographical area.

Very Dense Forest area: Increased by 2404 sq km and accounts for 2.61 per cent of the total geographical area.

Total carbon stock: Increased by 1.48 per cent (103 million tonnes) and is estimated to be 7, 044 million tonnes in the country’s forest.

Around 40 per cent forest cover in India is in 9 big patches of 10, 000 sq kms and more. The increase in mangrove cover also has been included in the increase in total forest cover.

State wise maximum increase in forest cover: Tamil Nadu (2, 501 sq km), Kerala (1, 317 sq km) and Jammu & Kashmir (450 sq km).

Largest forest cover in terms of area: Madhya Pradesh (77, 462 sq km), Arunachal Pradesh (67, 248 sq km) and Chhattisgarh (55, 586 sq km).

Highest percentage of forest cover: Mizoram (88.93%), Lakshadweep (84.56%).

States/UTs having forest cover above 33 per cent: 15 States/UTs have forest cover above 33 percent of the geographical area.

Out of these 7 states/UTs have more than 75 per cent forest cover. They are Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Island, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur.

8 states have forest cover in between 33 per cent to 75 per cent. They are Tripura, Goa, Sikkim, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Chhattisgarh and Assam.

Here are some positive points to know from the forest report:

India follows a policy of keeping one-third of the country's total land area under forest and tree cover

The forest cover of India has increased by 21.34 percent in the last two years

Very dense forests in India cover 2.61 percent of the total forest area, moderately dense forests account for 9.59 percent while open forests stand at 9.14 percent

Among all the states and Union Territories, Mizoram has the highest forest cover with 88.93 percent of the total area, followed by Lakshadweep

However, northeastern states have experienced a decline in forest cover except Manipur

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have gained around 1,930 square kilometre of very dense forests, Uttar Pradesh has added 572 square kilometre of very dense forest cover and Tamil Nadu has reported a net gain of 100 square kilometre of very dense forest cover

The mangrove cover in India has increased by 112 square kilometre following acute conservation in the Sundarbans and Bhitarkanika forest.

Important Observations

Out of the total forest cover, the maximum share is of Moderate Dense Forests, followed by Open Forests. The very dense forests in India are in just around 2.5% of total geographical area of the country.

Among all the states of India the states which have shown considerable improvement in their forest cover are: Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka.

The states where forest cover has decreased substantially are Mizoram ,Telangana, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh.

The total forest cover in the hill districts of the country is 283,015 sq km which is 39.99 % of total geographic area of these districts. In the latest report the hill districts have recorded a net increase of 1680 sq km area.

North east constitutes only 7.98% of geographical area of the country but it occupies one fourth of the forest cover. However according to the current report there is a decrease in the forest cover in the north east by 628 sq km which is primarily because of shifting cultivation and increase in biotic pressure.

Mangroves Cover

In world’s total mangrove vegetation, India’s share stands at 3%. Currently Mangrove cover in India is 4740 km² which is 0.14 % of the country’s geographical area. Sundarbans in West Bengal accounts for almost half of the total area. As compared to 2013 there is a net increase of 112 sq km in the mangrove cover. Top five states with maximum Mangrove cover are as follows:

1. West Bengal (2106)
2. Gujarat (1107)
3. Andaman & Nicobar Island (617)
4. Andhra Pradesh (367)
5. Odisha (231)

Mangroves are also found in Tamil Nadu, Goa, Kerala, Daman & Diu, Karnataka and Puducherry.

Total Carbon Stock

The total carbon stock has also increased by 103 million tonnes or an increase of 1.48 in percentage terms compared to previous assessments. The total carbon stock in the country’s forest is around 7, 044 million tonnes. The increase in the carbon stock shows the commitment of the country towards achieving INDC target of additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes of CO2.