Explanation:

Rajasthan has emerged as the second-largest area under tree cover in the country, as  per the recently released forest survey report.

 Maharashtra tops the list with 12,108 sqkm of tree cover.

While tree cover is significant in Rajasthan, it is only 2.5% of the total geographical area of 3,42,239 sqkm.

The total tree cover of the country has been estimated at 95,748 sqkm. There has been an increase of 721 sqkm in tree cover compared to the previous assessment of 2019.

The standard error in the tree cover estimate at the national level has been assessed at 4.01%. The standard error at the state level varies from 2.23% to 16.49%.

As per the head of forest force (HoFF), Rajasthan has always been in the top three when it comes to tree cover mainly due to two reasons. One is that historically, people of the state have always believed in conservation of trees. Secondly, there has been regular distribution of saplings for plantation which is not something that has been introduced recently but has been happening for decades.