Punjab forest cover up by 11.63 sq km

Forest cover in the state has registered a progressive increase of 11.63 sq km this year, besides plantation of 60 lakh saplings under various schemes.

Forest Minister Sadhu Singh Dharmsot said the Punjab Government was committed to increasing the green cover and taking adequate steps in this direction.

He said as per the State of India Latest Forest Cover report (released in 2020 by the Government of India), the total forest vegetation cover in the state had gone up by 11.63 sq km, suggesting the programmes implemented by the government were yielding results.

The minister said to commemorate the 400th Parkash Purab of Guru Tegh Bahadur, 60 lakh plants had been planted under various schemes at over 6,986 villages in the state this year. He said with extension support, more than 19.5 lakh high-quality clonal plants had been planted by farmers under submission on agro-forestry on their fields.

What is the ISFR:-

The report is published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI).
FSI has been mandated to assess the forest and tree resources of the country including wall-to-wall forest cover mapping in a biennial cycle.
Starting 1987, 16 assessment have been completed so far. ISFR 2019 is the 16th report in the series.