Lok Sabha Question No. 1071 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-07
Subject: Forest Cover in North-East
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Deepak (Dev) Adhikari, Nama Nageswara Rao

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  1071

TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2020

## Forest Cover in North-East

## 1071.   SHRI ADHIKARI DEEPAK (DEV): SHRI NAMA NAGESWARA RAO:

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

- (a) whether forest cover in the country has increased during the last three years, if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
- (b) whether it is a fact that the forest cover in North-East and the tribal areas is decreasing, if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  achieve  the  desired  target  of  33  per  cent  forest cover including timeline proposed to achieve the target?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)

- (a) &(b)  Forest  Survey  of  India,  Dehradun,  an  organization  under  the  Ministry  carries  out  the assessment of forest cover of the country biennially and the findings are published in India State of Forest Report (ISFR).

As per the latest ISFR 2019, there is an increase of 3976km 2 in forest cover in the country over  that  of  the  ISFR  2017.  The  State/UTs  wise  change  in  forest  cover  is  given  in Annexure I.

There is an overall increase in the forest cover in the country as well as in tribal districts. However, some decline in forest cover in North East States and a few tribal districts has been observed in the ISFR-2019 as compared to ISFR-2017, due to various reasons such as shifting  cultivation,  developmental  activities  such  as  mining,  construction  of  dams,  road and railway network, etc. Details of forest cover in North Eastern States and tribal districts are given in Annexure II and Annexure III , respectively.

- (c)  To  increase  the  forest  cover  in  the  country,  the  Ministry  is  taking  several  initiatives.  These include  ongoing Centrally Sponsored Schemes  of the Ministry such as National Afforestation  Programme,  National  Mission  for  a  Green  India  and  Development  of

Wildlife  Habitats.  The  recently  promulgated  Compensatory  Afforestation  Fund  Rules, 2018also contain provisions for taking up assisted natural regeneration, artificial regeneration and silvicultural operations in forests which contribute to increase in forest cover. The Ministry also supports school nursery and urban forestry programmes through people's participation.

Afforestation activities are also taken up under various programmes/funding sources such as  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme,  Pradhan  Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana and under the schemes/plans of State/UT Governments.

*********

Annexure I Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1071 due for answer on 07.02.2020 regarding 'Forest Cover in North-East'

| S.No   | State/UT                 | Geo. Area (km 2 )   | As per ISFR 2017 (km 2 )   | As per ISFR 2019 (km 2 )   | Change in forest cover w.r.t ISFR 2017 (km 2 )   |   Change w.r.t ISFR 2017 (%) |
|--------|--------------------------|---------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh           | 1,62,968            | 28147                      | 29,137                     | 990                                              |                         3.52 |
| 2      | Arunachal Pradesh        | 83,743              | 66964                      | 66,688                     | -276                                             |                        -0.41 |
| 3      | Assam                    | 78,438              | 28105                      | 28,327                     | 222                                              |                         0.79 |
| 4      | Bihar                    | 94,163              | 7299                       | 7,306                      | 7                                                |                         0.1  |
| 5      | Chhattisgarh             | 1,35,192            | 55547                      | 55,611                     | 64                                               |                         0.12 |
| 6      | Delhi                    | 1,483               | 192.41                     | 195.44                     | 3.03                                             |                         1.57 |
| 7      | Goa                      | 3,702               | 2229                       | 2,237                      | 8                                                |                         0.36 |
| 8      | Gujarat                  | 1,96,244            | 14757                      | 14,857                     | 100                                              |                         0.68 |
| 9      | Haryana                  | 44,212              | 1588                       | 1,602                      | 14                                               |                         0.88 |
| 10     | Himachal Pradesh         | 55,673              | 15100                      | 15,434                     | 334                                              |                         2.21 |
| 11     | Jammu & UT of J&K* UT of | 53,258*             |                            | 21,122                     | 348                                              |                         1.68 |
| 11     | Kashmir Ladakh*          | 1,69,421*           |                            | 2,490                      | 23                                               |                         0.93 |
| 11     | # Total                  | 2,22,236            | 23241                      | 23,612                     | 371                                              |                         1.6  |
| 12     | Jharkhand                | 79,716              | 23553                      | 23,611                     | 58                                               |                         0.25 |
| 13     | Karnataka                | 1,91,791            | 37550                      | 38,575                     | 1,025                                            |                         2.73 |
| 14     | Kerala                   | 38,852              | 20321                      | 21,144                     | 823                                              |                         4.05 |
| 15     | Madhya Pradesh           | 3,08,252            | 77414                      | 77,482                     | 68                                               |                         0.09 |
| 16     | Maharashtra              | 3,07,713            | 50682                      | 50,778                     | 96                                               |                         0.19 |
| 17     | Manipur                  | 22,327              | 17346                      | 16,847                     | -499                                             |                        -2.88 |
| 18     | Meghalaya                | 22,429              | 17146                      | 17,119                     | -27                                              |                        -0.16 |
| 19     | Mizoram                  | 21,081              | 18186                      | 18,006                     | -180                                             |                        -0.99 |
| 20     | Nagaland                 | 16,579              | 12489                      | 12,486                     | -3                                               |                        -0.02 |
| 21     | Odisha                   | 1,55,707            | 51345                      | 51,619                     | 274                                              |                         0.53 |
| 22     | Punjab                   | 50,362              | 1837                       | 1,849                      | 12                                               |                         0.65 |
| 23     | Rajasthan                | 3,42,239            | 16572                      | 16,630                     | 58                                               |                         0.35 |
| 24     | Sikkim                   | 7,096               | 3344                       | 3,342                      | -2                                               |                        -0.06 |
| 25     | Tamil Nadu               | 1,30,060            | 26281                      | 26,364                     | 83                                               |                         0.32 |
| 26     | Telangana                | 1,12,077            | 20419                      | 20,582                     | 163                                              |                         0.8  |
| 27     | Tripura                  | 10,486              | 7726                       | 7,726                      | 0                                                |                         0    |
| 28     | Uttar Pradesh            | 2,40,928            | 14679                      | 14,806                     | 127                                              |                         0.87 |
| 29     | Uttarakhand              | 53,483              | 24295                      | 24,303                     | 8                                                |                         0.03 |
| 30     | West Bengal              | 88,752              | 16847                      | 16,902                     | 55                                               |                         0.33 |
| 31     | A &NIslands              | 8,249               | 6742                       | 6,743                      | 1                                                |                         0.01 |
| 32     | Chandigarh               | 114                 | 21.56                      | 22.03                      | 0.47                                             |                         2.18 |
| 33     | Dadra &Nagar Haveli      | 491                 | 207                        | 207                        | 0                                                |                         0    |
| 34     | Daman &Diu               | 111                 | 20.49                      | 20.49                      | 0                                                |                         0    |
| 35     | Lakshadweep              | 30                  | 27.1                       | 27.1                       | 0                                                |                         0    |
| 36     | Puducherry               | 490                 | 53.67                      | 52.41                      | -1.26                                            |                        -2.35 |
|        | Total                    | 32,87,469           | 7,08,273                   | 7,12,249                   | 3,976                                            |                         0.56 |

## Annexure II

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1071 due for answer on 07.02.2020 regarding 'Forest Cover in North-East'

| (area in square kilometre)   | (area in square kilometre)   | (area in square kilometre)   | (area in square kilometre)                                  | (area in square kilometre)                                  | (area in square kilometre)                                  |
|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|                              |                              |                              | Forest cover in North East States as per ISFR 2017 and 2019 | Forest cover in North East States as per ISFR 2017 and 2019 | Forest cover in North East States as per ISFR 2017 and 2019 |
| S.No.                        | State                        | Geo. Area                    | ISFR 2017                                                   | ISFR 2019                                                   | Change w.r.t ISFR 2017                                      |
| 1                            | Arunachal Pradesh            | 83,743                       | 66,964                                                      | 66,688                                                      | -276                                                        |
| 2                            | Assam                        | 78,438                       | 28,105                                                      | 28,327                                                      | 222                                                         |
| 3                            | Manipur                      | 22,327                       | 17,346                                                      | 16,847                                                      | -499                                                        |
| 4                            | Meghalaya                    | 22,429                       | 17,146                                                      | 17,119                                                      | -27                                                         |
| 5                            | Mizoram                      | 21,081                       | 18,186                                                      | 18,006                                                      | -180                                                        |
| 6                            | Nagaland                     | 16,579                       | 12,489                                                      | 12,486                                                      | -3                                                          |
| 7                            | Sikkim                       | 7,096                        | 3,344                                                       | 3,342                                                       | -2                                                          |
| 8                            | Tripura                      | 10,486                       | 7,726                                                       | 7,726                                                       | 0                                                           |
|                              | Total                        | 2,62,179                     | 1,71,306                                                    | 1,70,541                                                    | -765                                                        |

## Annexure III

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1071 due for answer on 07.02.2020 regarding 'Forest Cover in North-East'

Forest Cover in Tribal Areas as per ISFR 2017 and 2019

(area in square kilometre)

|       |                   | Tribal Districts   | Tribal Districts   | Tribal Districts              | Tribal Districts              |             |
|-------|-------------------|--------------------|--------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------|
| S.No. | State/UT          | No.                | Geographical area  | Forest Cover as per ISFR 2017 | Forest Cover as per ISFR 2019 | Change 2017 |
| 1     | Andhra Pradesh    | 5                  | 44,849             | 11,418                        | 12,226                        | 808         |
| 2     | Arunachal Pradesh | 16                 | 83,743             | 66,964                        | 66,688                        | -276        |
| 3     | Assam             | 19                 | 49,489             | 11,832                        | 12,073                        | 241         |
| 4     | Chhattisgarh      | 11                 | 92,645             | 39,950                        | 39,988                        | 38          |
| 5     | Gujarat           | 9                  | 49,885             | 6,966                         | 6,869                         | -97         |
| 6     | Himachal Pradesh  | 3                  | 26,764             | 3,259                         | 3,262                         | 3           |
| 7     | Jharkhand         | 17                 | 58,677             | 17,419                        | 17,441                        | 22          |
| 8     | Karnataka         | 5                  | 26,054             | 13,279                        | 13,616                        | 337         |
| 9     | Kerala            | 9                  | 27,207             | 14,820                        | 15,411                        | 591         |
| 10    | Madhya Pradesh    | 24                 | 1,52,132           | 47,414                        | 47,463                        | 49          |
| 11    | Maharashtra       | 12                 | 1,44,233           | 30,537                        | 30,443                        | -94         |
| 12    | Manipur           | 9                  | 22,327             | 17,346                        | 16,847                        | -499        |
| 13    | Meghalaya         | 7                  | 22,429             | 17,146                        | 17,119                        | -27         |
| 14    | Mizoram           | 8                  | 21,081             | 18,186                        | 18,006                        | -180        |
| 15    | Nagaland          | 11                 | 16,579             | 12,489                        | 12,486                        | -3          |
| 16    | Odisha            | 12                 | 86,091             | 34,206                        | 34,331                        | 125         |
| 17    | Rajasthan         | 5                  | 29,601             | 5,274                         | 5,278                         | 4           |
| 18    | Sikkim            | 4                  | 7,096              | 3,344                         | 3,342                         | -2          |
| 19    | Tamil Nadu        | 6                  | 25,607             | 5,700                         | 5,671                         | -29         |
| 20    | Telangana         | 3                  | 42,217             | 13,039                        | 13,154                        | 115         |
| 21    | Tripura           | 4                  | 10,486             | 7,726                         | 7,726                         | 0           |
| 22    | Uttar Pradesh     | 1                  | 7,680              | 1,274                         | 1,273                         | -1          |
| 23    | West Bengal       | 12                 | 69,403             | 14,595                        | 14,650                        | 55          |
| 24    | A&N Islands       | 3                  | 8,249              | 6,742                         | 6,743                         | 1           |
| 25    | D&N Haveli        | 1                  | 491                | 207                           | 207                           | 0           |
| 26    | Daman& Diu        | 1                  | 72                 | 11                            |                               | -0.05       |
| 27    | Lakshadweep       | 1                  | 30                 | 27                            | 11 27                         | 0           |
|       | Total             | 218                | 11,25,117          | 4,21,170                      | 4,22,351                      | 1,181       |