Lok Sabha Question No. 104 (STARRED), answered on 2022-07-25
Subject: Forest Cover
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Rattan Lal Kataria, Bholanath (B.P. Saroj)

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO: 104*

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 25.07.2022

## Forest Cover

- *104.   SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA: SHRI BHOLANATH (B.P. SAROJ):

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

- (a) whether forest cover in the country has increased by 2261 square km and the forest cover of 1643 square km has got destroyed during the year 2019 and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  details  of  the  increase  required  in  forests  or  forest  area  to  get  recognition  under Nationally Determined Contributions;
- (c) the details of the areas where trees were cut down on a large scale including deforested areas during the last three years along with the reasons therefor;
- (d) the steps taken to prevent deforestation across the country in the future and the progress of the implementation of afforestation schemes along with the funds released for the purpose during the last three years; and
- (e) whether the Government is also taking any concrete steps to increase natural rice fields keeping in view climate change and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BHUPENDER YADAV)

- (a) to (e) The statement is laid on the table of the House.

***

## Statement refer to in reply to part (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 104 due for reply on 25.07.2022 regarding 'Forest Cover' by Shri Rattan Lal  Kataria and Shri  Bholanath (B.P. Saroj):

- (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 latest ISFR 2021, the total forest cover of the country has increased by 1540 square kilometre, tree cover has increased by 721 square kilometre and total forest and tree cover has increased by 2261 square kilometre at the national level as compared to the previous assessment i.e. ISFR 2019.  There  has  been  increase  in  forest  cover  in  some  States  while  there  has  been decrease in forest cover in some States as per ISFR 2021.

The gain in Forest cover or improvement in forest canopy density may be attributed to conservation measures, afforestation activities, enhanced protection measures in plantation  as  well  as  in  traditional  forest  areas  and  expansion  of  trees  outside  forest whereas, loss in forest cover may be attributed due to developmental activities, harvesting of  short  rotational  plantations  and  biotic  pressure.  The  details  of  State  and  Union Territory wise forest cover, forest and tree cover and change in forest and tree cover are given at Annexure I. The details of States showing decline in forest cover in comparison to previous assessment (ISFR-2019) are given at Annexure II.

- (b) India is committed to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030 as per Nationally Determined Contribution  (NDC)  under  Paris  Agreement.  India  is  on  track  to  meet  Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets under Paris Agreement. The Forest Survey of India estimates carbon stock of forest by using National Forest Inventory data collected during forest  inventory  and  forest  cover  area following  the  guidelines  given  by  United Nation  Framework  Convention  on  Climate  Change  (UNFCCC).  The  carbon  stock  for 2021 has been estimated to be 7204 million tones which is 79.4 million tonnes more than the  assessment  of  2019.  Thus  annual  increase  is  39.7  million  tonnes,  which  is  145.6 million tonnes CO2 equivalent.

In  totality,  India  has  already  achieved  1.97  billion  tonnes  of  additional  carbon  sink  as compared to the base year of 2005.

The remaining target can be achieved by increasing forest and tree cover of the country through implementation of various Central and State sponsored schemes.

- (c) The Central Government accords prior approval for non-forestry use of the forest land under  the  provisions  laid  down  in  the  Forest  (Conservation)  Act,  1980.  Forest  land  is

diverted only for unavoidable site specific developmental projects. All such proposals for use of forest land for non-forestry use are processed as per the provision of the Forest (Conservation)  Act,  1980,  Rules,  and  Guidelines  frame  thereunder.   During  last  three years (2019-20 to 2021-22) a total 52932.06 ha of forest land have been diverted. The State/UT wise details of area diverted are given at Annexure III .

- (d) Deforestation is caused due to various factors which may include overexploitation,  overgrazing,  urbanization  and  diversion  for  other  purposes  etc.  The Biennial edition of India State of Forest Report (ISFR) by Forest Survey of India (FSI) of the ministry, comprehensively, brings out the district-wise and state-wise details of forest and tree cover along with type of forest including open forest etc. This repository of data interalia serves as the source to target the potential area for afforestation under various schemes.

Compensatory afforestation is carried out in lieu of forest land diversion. Moreover, to compensate the problem of deforestation and to improve and increase the forest & tree cover  in  the  country,  afforestation  programmes  are  taken  up  under  various  Centrally Sponsored Schemes of the Ministry such as National Mission for a Green India (GIM). GIM is one of the eight Missions outlined under the National Action Plan on Climate Change.  It aims  at protecting, restoring  and  enhancing India's forest cover  and responding to Climate Change by undertaking plantation activities in the forest and nonforest areas. GIM activities were started in the FY 2015-16. So, far a sum of Rs. 375.13 Crores have been released to fifteen States and one union territory during last three years for taking up the advance work regarding creation of plantation over an area of 98260 hectares.

The  Ministry  is  implementing  Nagar  Van  Yojana  (NVY)  since  the  year  2020  which envisages developing 400 Nagar Vans and 200 Nagar Vatika in the country during the period of 2020-21 to 2024-25 with an objective to significantly enhance the tree outside forests and green cover, enhancement of biodiversity and ecological benefits to the urban and peri-urban areas apart from improving quality of life of city dwellers with the funds under  the  National  Fund  of  the  Compensatory  Afforestation  Fund  Management  and Planning Authority (CAMPA). During the year 2020-21 an amount of Rs. 1553.65 lakhs has been released and during 2021-22 an amount of Rs. 10875.44 lakh has been released. A total amount of Rs. 12429.09 Lakhs has been released for the creation of 173 Nagar Van projects  in  26  States  of  the  country  till  date.    The  Ministry  is  also  implementing 'School  Nursery  Yojana'  (SNY)  since  the  year  2020  for  a  period  of  five  years  where students of class Sixth, Seventh and Eighth from all public and private schools organized by  State  Boards/  Central  Government  Boards  all  over  the  country  will  be  actively involved  in  developing  nursery,  raising  and  planting  seedlings as part  of  school curriculum. During the year 2020-21 an amount of Rs. 15.20 lakh has been released and during 2021-22 an amount of Rs. 180.39 lakhs has been released.  A total amount of Rs. 195.15 lakhs have been released for the creation School Nurseries across 313 schools in 7 States of the country till date.

Afforestation activities are also taken up under various programmes/funding sources such as  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme,  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. In addition, plantations are also done by various departments, Non-Government Organizations, Civil Society, Corporate bodies etc.

The multi departmental efforts have yielded good results in conserving environment by addressing the problem of deforestation, besides keeping the pace of development, which is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the  forest  cover  has  stabilized  and  has  been  constantly increasing  over  the  years.  As  per  the  latest  ISFR  2021,  the  total  forest  cover  of  the country has increased by 12,294 square kilometres in the last seven years (ISFR 2015 to ISFR 2021).

- (e) National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) is one of the Missions within the National  Action  Plan  on  Climate  Change  (NAPCC)  under  Hon'ble  Prime  Minister's Council  for  Climate  Change.  The  mission  aims  to  evolve  and  implement  strategies  to make Indian agriculture more resilient to the changing climate. NMSA was approved for three  major  components  i.e.  Rainfed  Area  Development  (RAD);  On  Farm  Water Management (OFWM); and Soil  Health  Management  (SHM).  Subsequently,  four  new programmes  were  introduced  namely  Soil  Health  Card  (SHC),  Paramparagat  Krishi VikasYojana  (PKVY),  Mission  Organic  Value  Chain  Development  in  North  Eastern Region  (MOVCDNER)  and  Sub  Mission  on  Agroforestry  (SMAF).  During  2015-16, Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchayee  Yojana  (PMKSY)  was  operationalised  wherein  the OFWM  component  of  NMSA  was  subsumed  under  Per  Drop  More  Crop  (PDMC) component  of  PMKSY.  In  addition  to  the  aforementioned  programmes  under  NMSA, Restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM) was launched in April 2018. Beneficiaries of these schemes are decided/selected by the respective State Governments.

*****

## Annexure-I Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 104 due

## for answer on 25.07.2022 regarding 'Forest Cover'

## State and Union Territory wise details of forest cover, total forest and tree cover and change in forest and tree cover as per ISFR 2021

## (Area in square kilometre )

| S. No.        | State/UTs                                | Geographical Area (GA)   | Total Forest Cover   | Total Forest and Tree Cover   | Change in forest and tree cover w.r.t ISFR 2019   |
|---------------|------------------------------------------|--------------------------|----------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
| 1             | Andhra Pradesh                           | 1,62,968                 | 29,784               | 34,463                        | 1,412                                             |
| 2             | Arunachal Pradesh                        | 83,743                   | 66,431               | 67,432                        | -104                                              |
| 3             | Assam                                    | 78,438                   | 28,312               | 29,942                        | 207                                               |
| 4             | Bihar                                    | 94,163                   | 7,381                | 9,722                         | 413                                               |
| 5             | Chhattisgarh                             | 1,35,192                 | 55,717               | 61,072                        | 1,213                                             |
| 6             | Delhi                                    | 1,483                    | 195.00               | 342                           | 18                                                |
| 7             | Goa                                      | 3,702                    | 2,244                | 2,488                         | -21                                               |
| 8             | Gujarat                                  | 1,96,244                 | 14,926               | 20,415                        | -1,354                                            |
| 9             | Haryana                                  | 44,212                   | 1,603                | 3,028                         | -139                                              |
| 10            | Himachal Pradesh                         | 55,673                   | 15,443               | 16,118                        | -145                                              |
| 11            | Jharkhand                                | 79,716                   | 23,721               | 26,588                        | 320                                               |
| 12            | Karnataka                                | 1,91,791                 | 38,730               | 46,224                        | 1,392                                             |
| 13            | Kerala                                   | 38,852                   | 21,253               | 24,073                        | -7                                                |
| 14            | Madhya Pradesh                           | 3,08,252                 | 77,493               | 85,547                        | -274                                              |
| 15            | Maharashtra                              | 3,07,713                 | 50,798               | 62,906                        | 1,322                                             |
| 16            | Manipur                                  | 22,327                   | 16,598               | 16,767                        | -253                                              |
| 17            | Meghalaya                                | 22,429                   | 17,046               | 17,744                        | -85                                               |
| 18            | Mizoram                                  | 21,081                   | 17,820               | 18,264                        | -183                                              |
| 19            | Nagaland                                 | 16,579                   | 12,251               | 12,616                        | -232                                              |
| 20            | Odisha                                   | 1,55,707                 | 52,156               | 57,160                        | 893                                               |
| 21            | Punjab                                   | 50,362                   | 1,847                | 2,985                         | -456                                              |
| 22            | Rajasthan                                | 3,42,239                 | 16,655               | 25,388                        | 646                                               |
| 23            | Sikkim                                   | 7,096                    | 3,341                | 3,380                         | 2                                                 |
| 24            | Tamil Nadu                               | 1,30,060                 | 26,419               | 30,843                        | -351                                              |
| 25            | Telangana                                | 1,12,077                 | 21,214               | 24,062                        | 966                                               |
| 26            | Tripura                                  | 10,486                   | 7,722                | 7,950                         | -7                                                |
| 27            | Uttar Pradesh                            | 2,40,928                 | 14,818               | 22,239                        | 91                                                |
| 28            | Uttarakhand                              | 53,483                   | 24,305               | 25,306                        | 162                                               |
| 29            | West Bengal                              | 88,752                   | 16,832               | 19,181                        | 273                                               |
| 30            | A&NIslands                               | 8,249                    | 6,744                | 6,767                         | -17                                               |
| 31            | Chandigarh                               | 114                      | 22.88                | 37.88                         | -9                                                |
| 32            | Dadra &Nagar Haveli and Daman &Diu       | 602                      | 227.75               | 259.75                        | 0                                                 |
| 33            | Jammu & Kashmir Shape file Area (54,624) | 2,22,236                 |                      | 24,898                        | -4,168                                            |
| 34            | Ladakh Shape file Area (1,68,055)        |                          | 24,898               | 3,226                         | 736                                               |
| 35            | Lakshadweep                              | 30                       | 27.10                | 27.15                         | -0                                                |
| 36 Puducherry | 36 Puducherry                            | 490                      | 53.30                | 76.30                         | 1                                                 |
| Total         | Total                                    | 32,87,469                | 7,13,789             | 8,09,537                      | 2261                                              |

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 104 due for answer on 25.07.2022 regarding 'Forest Cover'.

Details of States showing decline in Forest cover as per ISFR 2021 in comparison to previous assessment i.e. ISFR 2019.

## (Area in square kilometre)

|   Sl. No. | State/UT          | Geographical Area (GA)   | Total Forest Cover   |   Change in Forest Cover w.r.t. ISFR 2019 |
|-----------|-------------------|--------------------------|----------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Arunachal Pradesh | 83,743                   | 66,431               |                                   -257    |
|         2 | Manipur           | 22,327                   | 16,598               |                                   -249    |
|         3 | Nagaland          | 16,579                   | 12,251               |                                   -235    |
|         4 | Mizoram           | 21,081                   | 17,820               |                                   -186    |
|         5 | Meghalaya         | 22,429                   | 17,046               |                                    -73    |
|         6 | West Bengal       | 88,752                   | 16,832               |                                    -70    |
|         7 | Assam             | 78,438                   | 28,312               |                                    -15    |
|         8 | Tripura           | 10,486                   | 7,722                |                                     -4    |
|         9 | Punjab            | 50,362                   | 1,847                |                                     -2    |
|        10 | Sikkim            | 7,096                    | 3,341                |                                     -1    |
|        11 | Delhi             | 1,483                    | 195.00               |                                     -0.44 |

## Annexure-III

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 104 due

## for answer on 25.07.2022 regarding 'Forest Cover'

(Area in hectares)

| Category : All Categories   | Category : All Categories   | During the Period : 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2022   | During the Period : 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2022   | During the Period : 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2022   | During the Period : 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2022   |
|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.                      | STATE / UT                  | 2019-2020 Area Approved                        | 2020-2021 Area Approved                        | 2021-2022 Area Approved                        | Grand Total Area Approved                      |
| 1                           | Andaman and Nicobar         | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           |
| 2                           | Andhra Pradesh              | 196.93                                         | 782.28                                         | 302.96                                         | 1282.18                                        |
| 3                           | Arunachal Pradesh           | 4577.84                                        | 95.37                                          | 1669.60                                        | 6342.80                                        |
| 4                           | Assam                       | 19.98                                          | 1157.35                                        | 133.43                                         | 1310.76                                        |
| 5                           | Bihar                       | 427.11                                         | 481.81                                         | 145.08                                         | 1054.00                                        |
| 6                           | Chandigarh                  | 0.00                                           | 0.05                                           | 0.05                                           | 0.10                                           |
| 7                           | Chhattisgarh                | 0.00                                           | 209.10                                         | 1474.97                                        | 1684.07                                        |
| 8                           | Dadar& Nagar Haveli         | 11.70                                          | 1.15                                           | 0.13                                           | 12.98                                          |
| 9                           | Daman and Diu               | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           | 2.43                                           | 2.43                                           |
| 10                          | Delhi                       | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           | 21.75                                          | 21.75                                          |
| 11                          | Goa                         | 0.00                                           | 97.65                                          | 3.81                                           | 101.46                                         |
| 12                          | Gujarat                     | 1785.91                                        | 1891.10                                        | 1714.47                                        | 5391.49                                        |
| 13                          | Haryana                     | 566.19                                         | 363.61                                         | 571.92                                         | 1501.72                                        |
| 14                          | Himachal Pradesh            | 414.22                                         | 323.14                                         | 455.86                                         | 1193.22                                        |
| 15                          | Jammu and Kashmir           | 0.00                                           | 1.20                                           | 262.93                                         | 264.13                                         |
| 16                          | Jharkhand                   | 903.90                                         | 413.67                                         | 771.58                                         | 2089.14                                        |
| 17                          | Karnataka                   | 390.12                                         | 299.78                                         | 94.75                                          | 784.64                                         |
| 18                          | Kerala                      | 0.80                                           | 1.20                                           | 3.90                                           | 5.90                                           |
| 19                          | Lakshadweep                 | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           |
| 20                          | Ladakh                      | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           |
| 21                          | Madhya Pradesh              | 2095.89                                        | 6352.90                                        | 3492.01                                        | 11940.80                                       |
| 22                          | Maharashtra                 | 183.79                                         | 113.10                                         | 586.93                                         | 883.82                                         |
| 23                          | Manipur                     | 24.50                                          | 0.00                                           | 242.13                                         | 266.63                                         |
| 24                          | Meghalaya                   | 0.03                                           | 6.55                                           | 0.00                                           | 6.58                                           |
| 25                          | Mizoram                     | 46.48                                          | 0.00                                           | 178.86                                         | 225.34                                         |
| 26                          | Nagaland                    | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           |
| 27                          | Orissa                      | 4075.63                                        | 1842.86                                        | 1002.13                                        | 6920.62                                        |
| 28                          | Punjab                      | 283.83                                         | 361.06                                         | 742.20                                         | 1387.09                                        |
| 29                          | Puducherry                  | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           |
| 30                          | Rajasthan                   | 511.20                                         | 151.42                                         | 410.89                                         | 1073.51                                        |
| 31                          | Sikkim                      | 0.00                                           | 0.00                                           | 20.20                                          | 20.20                                          |
| 32                          | Tamil Nadu                  | 27.95                                          | 11.10                                          | 17.59                                          | 56.64                                          |
| 33                          | Telangana                   | 377.94                                         | 628.00                                         | 209.99                                         | 1215.93                                        |
| 34                          | Tripura                     | 294.38                                         | 348.04                                         | 248.33                                         | 890.75                                         |
| 35                          | Uttar Pradesh               | 39.68                                          | 1086.71                                        | 1701.08                                        | 2827.47                                        |
| 36                          | Uttarakhand                 | 170.35                                         | 1156.89                                        | 519.66                                         | 1846.90                                        |
| 37                          | West Bengal                 | 102.33                                         | 137.14                                         | 87.53                                          | 326.99                                         |
| Grand                       | Total                       | 17528.69                                       | 18314.23                                       | 17089.14                                       | 52932.06                                       |