India records marginal increase in forest cover |ForumIAS

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Context:

According to the biennial India State of Forest Report (SFR) 2017, India has recorded a marginal increase in forest cover.

Findings of the Survey:

According to the Survey, India has about 7, 08,273 square kilometres of forest, which is 21.53% of the geographic area of the country (32, 87,569 sq. km).
The category of ‘very dense forest’ saw a dramatic rise from 85,904 square kilometres to 98,158 square kilometres in 2017.
However, the category of ‘moderately dense forest’ (40%-70%) saw a 7,056 square kilometre-decline from 2015.
The survey has found that India’s bamboo bearing area rose by 1.73 million hectares (2011) to 15.69 million hectares (2017).

Note: Earlier this year, the government ceased to define bamboo as a tree to promote economic activity among tribals.

15 States and union territories have 33% of their geographical area under forests.
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala have topped the States that posted an increase in forest cover.
Much of this increase can be attributed to plantation and conservation activities both within and outside the Recorded Forest areas as well as an improvement in interpretation of satellite data.
However, in North-east India, forest cover has shown a decrease.
In 2017, 65.34%, of the geographical area was under forest in the north-east- a 630 square kilometre decline from the 2015 survey.

About the Survey: