India State of Forest Report 2019

News:Government has released the India State of Forest Report 2019.

Facts:

About the India State of Forest Report:

• The India State of Forest Report 2019 has been prepared by Forest Survey of India(FSI).
• The report is a biennial exercise.It assesses the forest and tree cover, bamboo resources, carbon stock and forest fires.

Key takeaways from the report:

Forest and Tree cover:

• The forest cover in the country has increased by 3,976 square kilometer in the last two years.
• The tree cover which is defined as patches of trees less than 1 hectare and occurring outside the recorded forest area has grown by 1,212 sq km. 
• The tree and forest cover together made up 25.56% of India’s area.In the last assessment it was 24.39%.
• The top three States showing an increase in forest cover are Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
• However,the sharpest decline in forest cover was seen in the northeastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Mizoram.
• The loss in the North East is attributed primarily due to the traditional farming practice of Shifting Cultivation.

Carbon stock:

• The total carbon stock of the country was estimated at 7124 million tons, which is an increase of 42.6 million tons from the last assessment.
• It implies that India is on the right track to achieve its Paris Agreement commitment of 2.5 -3 billion carbon sinks.

Mangroves and Bamboo Cover:

• The mangrove cover has increased by 54 square km or about 1% from the last assessment with Gujarat and Maharashtra registering the largest improvements.
• The total bamboo bearing area of the country is estimated as 1,60,037 sq km.There is an increase of 3,229 sq km in bamboo bearing area as compared to the previous estimate.

Additional information:

About Forest Survey of India:

• Forest Survey of India (FSI) is an organisation under the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India.
• It was established as an organization called Pre- Investment Survey of Forest Resources(PISFR) in 1965.
• Its principal mandate is to conduct a survey and assessment of forest resources in the country. ​