Lok Sabha Question No. 6478 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-04-06
Subject: Assessment of Forest Land Area
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: RAKSHA NIKHIL KHADSE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  6478

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.04.2018

## Assessment of Forest Land Area

## 6478.    SHRIMATI RAKSHATAI KHADSE:

Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND  CLIMATE  CHANGE  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) whether the Government has made any assessment of Forest Land Area and tree resource of the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  details  of  last  assessment  carried  out  in  this regard;
- (c) the details of the land with recently increase or decrease of area assessed during recent assessment, State/UT-wise; and
- (d) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to preserve and increase the tree plantation and forest land area in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

- (a) Forest  Survey  of  India,  Dehradun,  a  subordinate  organization  under  Ministry  of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, carries out the assessment of forest cover of  the  country  biennially  and  the  findings  are  published  in  India  State  of  Forest Report (ISFR) since 1987. The 15 th report in this series, i.e. ISFR-2017 was released recently.
- Forest  Survey  of  India  regularly  conducts  inventory  of  trees  in  forests  and  outside forests  in  a  cycle  of  two  years  since  2002  under  its  National  Forest  inventory Programme by selecting 60 districts randomly falling across different physiographic zones.
- (b) As per the latest report i.e. ISFR- 2017, the total forest and tree cover of the country is 8,02,088 square kilometers which is 24.39% of the total geographical area of the country.  It shows an increase of 8021 square kilometers over that of the India State of Forest Report 2015 (updated) out of which, there is a net increase of 6,778 square kilometer in forest cover and 1,243 square kilometer in tree cover.
- (c) The  State/UTs  wise  detail  of  forest  and  tree  cover  including  increase/decrease  in forest and tree cover as per ISFR-2017 are given in Annexure I and II .
- (d) To  increase  the  tree  plantation and  forest cover  in the  country, afforestation programmes are being taken up under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes such as National  Afforestation  Programme  (NAP)  and  Green  India  Mission  (GIM)  being implemented by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Afforestation activities  are  also  taken  up  under  various  programmes/funding  sources  such  as Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (MGNREGS), Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchayee  Yojana  (PMKSY)  and  under  Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).

National Afforestation Programme (NAP) of the Ministry of Environment & Forests is  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  afforestation  and  eco-restoration  of  degraded forests and adjoining areas through people's participation in the country.  An amount of  Rs.  3778.65  crores has  been  released to the states to treat an area of 21.78 lakh hectares since inception of this programme.

National Mission for a Green India (GIM) is one of the eight Missions outlined under the National Action Plan on Climate Change. So far funds amounting to Rs. 157.64 crore has been released under GIM to nine States for carrying out various activities under the mission, during 2015-16 to 2017-18.

*********

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 6478 due for answer on 06.04.2018 regarding 'Assessment of Forest Land Area.'

## Change in Forest Cover of States/UTs between 2015 and 2017 assessments

(area in square kilometer)

| State               | Geographic Area   | Total Forest cover as per ISFR-2017   |   Percent of Geographic area |   Change in forest cover wrt ISFR 2015 (updated) |
|---------------------|-------------------|---------------------------------------|------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh      | 162968            | 28,147                                |                        17.27 |                                          2141    |
| Arunachal Pradesh   | 83743             | 66,964                                |                        79.96 |                                          -190    |
| Assam               | 78438             | 28,105                                |                        35.83 |                                           567    |
| Bihar               | 94163             | 7,299                                 |                         7.75 |                                            45    |
| Chhattisgarh        | 135192            | 55,547                                |                        41.09 |                                           -12    |
| Delhi               | 1483              | 192.41                                |                        12.97 |                                             3.64 |
| Goa                 | 3702              | 2,229                                 |                        60.21 |                                            19    |
| Gujarat             | 196244            | 14,757                                |                         7.52 |                                            47    |
| Haryana             | 44212             | 1,588                                 |                         3.59 |                                             8    |
| Himachal Pradesh    | 55673             | 15,100                                |                        27.12 |                                           393    |
| Jammu &Kashmir *    | 222236            | 23,241                                |                        10.46 |                                           253    |
| Jharkhand           | 79716             | 23,553                                |                        29.55 |                                            29    |
| Karnataka           | 191791            | 37,550                                |                        19.58 |                                          1101    |
| Kerala              | 38852             | 20,321                                |                        52.3  |                                          1043    |
| Madhya Pradesh      | 308252            | 77,414                                |                        25.11 |                                           -12    |
| Maharashtra         | 307713            | 50,682                                |                        16.47 |                                           -17    |
| Manipur             | 22327             | 17,346                                |                        77.69 |                                           263    |
| Meghalaya           | 22429             | 17,146                                |                        76.45 |                                          -116    |
| Mizoram             | 21081             | 18,186                                |                        86.27 |                                          -531    |
| Nagaland            | 16579             | 12,489                                |                        75.33 |                                          -450    |
| Odisha              | 155707            | 51,345                                |                        32.98 |                                           885    |
| Punjab              | 50362             | 1837                                  |                         3.65 |                                            66    |
| Rajasthan           | 342239            | 16,572                                |                         4.84 |                                           466    |
| Sikkim              | 7096              | 3,344                                 |                        47.13 |                                            -9    |
| Tamil Nadu          | 130060            | 26,281                                |                        20.21 |                                            73    |
| Telangana           | 112077            | 20,419                                |                        18.22 |                                           565    |
| Tripura             | 10486             | 7,726                                 |                        73.68 |                                          -164    |
| Uttar Pradesh       | 240928            | 14,679                                |                         6.09 |                                           278    |
| Uttarakhand         | 53483             | 24,295                                |                        45.43 |                                            23    |
| West Bengal         | 88752             | 16,847                                |                        18.98 |                                            21    |
| A&N Islands         | 8249              | 6,742                                 |                        81.73 |                                            -9    |
| Chandigarh          | 114               | 21.56                                 |                        18.91 |                                            -0.1  |
| Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 491               | 207                                   |                        42.16 |                                             1    |
| Daman &Diu          | 111               | 20.49                                 |                        18.46 |                                             0.88 |
| Lakshadweep         | 30                | 27.10                                 |                        90.33 |                                             0.04 |
| Puducherry          | 490               | 53.67                                 |                        10.95 |                                            -3.28 |
| Grand Total         | 32,87,469         | 708273                                |                        21.54 |                                          6778    |

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 6478 due for answer on 06.04.2018 regarding 'Assessment of Forest Land Area.'

## Tree Cover in States/UTs in India

## (area in square kilometer)

| State               | Geographic Area   | Total Tree cover as per ISFR-2017   |   Percent of Geographic area |   Change in Tree cover w.r.t ISFR 2015 (updated) |
|---------------------|-------------------|-------------------------------------|------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh      | 162968            | 3,753                               |                         2.3  |                                             -212 |
| Arunachal Pradesh   | 83743             | 807                                 |                         0.96 |                                               46 |
| Assam               | 78438             | 1,496                               |                         1.91 |                                             -117 |
| Bihar               | 94163             | 2,263                               |                         2.4  |                                               81 |
| Chhattisgarh        | 135192            | 3,833                               |                         2.84 |                                              204 |
| Delhi               | 1483              | 113                                 |                         7.62 |                                                2 |
| Goa                 | 3702              | 323                                 |                         8.73 |                                               -2 |
| Gujarat             | 196244            | 8,024                               |                         4.09 |                                              110 |
| Haryana             | 44212             | 1,415                               |                         3.2  |                                               60 |
| Himachal Pradesh    | 55673             | 822                                 |                         1.48 |                                               65 |
| Jammu &Kashmir *    | 222236            | 7,815                               |                         3.52 |                                             -539 |
| Jharkhand           | 79716             | 2,922                               |                         3.67 |                                              139 |
| Karnataka           | 191791            | 5,713                               |                         2.98 |                                              161 |
| Kerala              | 38852             | 2,959                               |                         7.62 |                                                8 |
| Madhya Pradesh      | 308252            | 8,073                               |                         2.62 |                                              300 |
| Maharashtra         | 307713            | 9,831                               |                         3.19 |                                              273 |
| Manipur             | 22327             | 220                                 |                         0.99 |                                              -23 |
| Meghalaya           | 22429             | 657                                 |                         2.93 |                                              -53 |
| Mizoram             | 21081             | 467                                 |                         2.22 |                                              -68 |
| Nagaland            | 16579             | 379                                 |                         2.29 |                                               -2 |
| Odisha              | 155707            | 3,993                               |                         2.56 |                                                7 |
| Punjab              | 50362             | 1,622                               |                         3.22 |                                               78 |
| Rajasthan           | 342239            | 8,266                               |                         2.42 |                                               -3 |
| Sikkim              | 7096              | 35                                  |                         0.49 |                                                0 |
| Tamil Nadu          | 130060            | 4,671                               |                         3.59 |                                              166 |
| Telangana           | 112077            | 2,669                               |                         2.38 |                                              120 |
| Tripura             | 10486             | 215                                 |                         2.05 |                                              -18 |
| Uttar Pradesh       | 240928            | 7,442                               |                         3.09 |                                              398 |
| Uttarakhand         | 53483             | 767                                 |                         1.43 |                                               15 |
| West Bengal         | 88752             | 2,136                               |                         2.41 |                                               48 |
| A&N Islands         | 8249              | 35                                  |                         0.42 |                                               -2 |
| Chandigarh          | 114               | 10                                  |                         8.77 |                                                1 |
| Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 491               | 30                                  |                         6.11 |                                                2 |
| Daman &Diu          | 111               | 10                                  |                         9.01 |                                                0 |
| Lakshadweep         | 30                | 2                                   |                         6.67 |                                               -2 |
| Puducherry          | 490               | 27                                  |                         5.51 |                                                0 |
| Grand Total         | 32,87,469         | 93,815                              |                         2.85 |                                             1243 |