Lok Sabha Question No. 3956 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-19
Subject: Forest Cover
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Riti Pathak, Krishna Pal Singh Yadav, Rajan Baburao  Vichare

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3956

TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.03.2021

## Forest Cover

## 3956.     SHRIMATI RITI PATHAK: DR. KRISHNA PAL SINGH YADAV: SHRI RAJAN VICHARE:

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

- (a) the  names  of  States  where  forest  cover  has  increased/decreased  during  the  last  three years, State/UT-wise;
- (b) the details of the schemes implemented by the Government during the last few years to increase  forestcover  and  develop  new  forest  areas  in  various  cities  of  the  country, State/UT-wise including Madhya Pradesh;
- (c) whether the Government has any scheme to increase forest coverage on the basis of their utility and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise; and
- (d) the status of forest cover in Maharashtra particularly Thane district and SidhiLokSabha Constituency of Madhya Pradesh?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Forest Survey of India (FSI),Dehradun, an organization under the Ministry carries out the assessment  of  forest  cover  of  the  country  biennially  since  1987  and  the  findings  are published in India State of Forest Report (ISFR). The forest cover assessment is a wallto-wall  mapping  exercise  based  on  remote  sensing  supported  by  intensive  ground verification  and  field  data  from  National  Forest  Inventory.As  per  ISFR  2019,  the  total forest and tree cover of the country is 8,07,276 square kilometers which is 24.56 % of the geographical  area  of  the  country.  There  is  an  increase  of  13,209  square  kilometer  of forest  and  tree  cover  at  the  national  level  in  the  ISFR-2019  as  compared  to  the  ISFR2015.The  State/UTs  wise  details  of  change  in  forest  and  tree  cover  as  compared  with ISFR-2019 and ISFR-2015 is given in Annexure.
- (b) &  (c)  Various  schemes  are  being  implemented  by  Central  and  State  Government  for increase inforest cover of the country.These include National Afforestation Programme

(NAP)  and  Green  India Mission (GIM)  being  implemented  by  the  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,  Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, Compensatory Afforestation Funds under Compensatory  Afforestation  Fund  Management  and  Planning  Authority  (CAMPA). Afforestation activities are also taken up under various schemes of State Government /UT Administration.

The  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Farmers  Welfare  is  also  implementing  National Agroforestry  Policy  2014  with  an  objective  to  meet  the  demand  of  timber,  food,  fuel, fodder, fertilizer, fibre and other agroforestry products, conserving the natural resources and forest; protecting the  environment &  providing environmental security; and increasing the forest/tree cover. Also, Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture  (MIDH)  is  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  the  holistic  growth  of  the horticulture  sector  covering  fruits,  vegetables,  root  &  tuber  crops,  mushrooms,  spices, flowers,  aromatic  plants,  coconut,  cashew,  cocoa  and  bamboo.  These  schemes  are implemented in all over the country including the State of Madhya Pradesh.

- (d)  The Forest Survey of India, Dehradun assess the forest cover of the country district wise. As per ISFR-2019, the total forest cover for the State of Maharashtra is 50,777.56 square kilometre  which  is  16.5%  of  the  total  geographical  area  of  the  State.  The  total  forest cover of Thane District of Maharashtra is 2998.09 square kilometre which is 31.37% of the total  geographical area of the district. The  forest cover of Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh is 1969.16 square kilometre which is 40.59% of total geographical area of the district.

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## Annexure

## Annexure referred to reply in part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3956 due for answer on 19.03.2021 regarding 'Forest Cover'.

## State/UTs wise Change in forest and treecover as per ISFR-2019 and 2015.

| S.No   | State/UT            |   Increase/decrease in forest cover w.r.t. ISFR 2015 (as per ISFR 2019) |   (Area in square kilometre) Increase/decrease in tree cover w.r.t. ISFR 2015 (as per ISFR 2019) |
|--------|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh      |                                                                 3131    |                                                                                           -51    |
| 2      | Arunachal Pradesh   |                                                                 -466    |                                                                                            87    |
| 3      | Assam               |                                                                  789    |                                                                                          -205    |
| 4      | Bihar               |                                                                   52    |                                                                                          -179    |
| 5      | Chhattisgarh        |                                                                   52    |                                                                                           619    |
| 6      | Delhi               |                                                                    6.67 |                                                                                            18    |
| 7      | Goa                 |                                                                   27    |                                                                                           -53    |
| 8      | Gujarat             |                                                                  147    |                                                                                         -1002    |
| 9      | Haryana             |                                                                   22    |                                                                                           210    |
| 10     | Himachal Pradesh    |                                                                  727    |                                                                                            72    |
| 11     | Jammu &Kashmir      |                                                                  624    |                                                                                          -410    |
| 12     | Jharkhand           |                                                                   87    |                                                                                          -126    |
| 13     | Karnataka           |                                                                 2126    |                                                                                           705    |
| 14     | Kerala              |                                                                 1866    |                                                                                           -15    |
| 15     | Madhya Pradesh      |                                                                   56    |                                                                                           566    |
| 16     | Maharashtra         |                                                                   79    |                                                                                          1248    |
| 17     | Manipur             |                                                                 -236    |                                                                                           -70    |
| 18     | Meghalaya           |                                                                 -143    |                                                                                             0    |
| 19     | Mizoram             |                                                                 -711    |                                                                                           -94    |
| 20     | Nagaland            |                                                                 -453    |                                                                                           -19    |
| 21     | Odisha              |                                                                 1159    |                                                                                           662    |
| 22     | Punjab              |                                                                   78    |                                                                                            48    |
| 23     | Rajasthan           |                                                                  524    |                                                                                          -157    |
| 24     | Sikkim              |                                                                  -11    |                                                                                             1    |
| 25     | Tamil Nadu          |                                                                  156    |                                                                                           325    |
| 26     | Telangana           |                                                                  728    |                                                                                           -35    |
| 27     | Tripura             |                                                                 -164    |                                                                                            -2    |
| 28     | Uttar Pradesh       |                                                                  405    |                                                                                           298    |
| 29     | Uttarakhand         |                                                                   31    |                                                                                            89    |
| 30     | West Bengal         |                                                                   76    |                                                                                           -82    |
| 31     | A &NIslands         |                                                                   -8    |                                                                                             4    |
| 32     | Chandigarh          |                                                                    0.37 |                                                                                            16    |
| 33     | Dadra &Nagar Haveli |                                                                    1    |                                                                                             0    |
| 34     | Daman &Diu          |                                                                    0.88 |                                                                                            -5    |
| 35     | Lakshadweep         |                                                                    0.04 |                                                                                            -3.71 |
| 36     | Puducherry          |                                                                   -4.54 |                                                                                            -4    |
|        | Total               |                                                                10754    |                                                                                          2455    |